Mithos has returned
by darkspeedish1
Summary: Six months after all the events of Tales of Symphonia was set and done, everyone in the group (Lloyd, Emil, Genis, etc) caught wind of Mithos some how coming back to life. When all of them meet him, they are in shock when they discover most of his memory is gone. What could this mean for Lloyd and his friends? (Look at my profile for more details)
1. A fallen hero revived

In Meltokio, a raven haired woman in Shinobi attire ran pasted a certain red haired male, a person well known in the Tethe'alla region. The woman didn't pay the male no mind when he commented. "Hey, my ninja beauty! Where ya' running off to?"

Normally, Sheena Fujibayashi, would give the male a piece of her mind. But the seriousness of the turn of events were more important to worry about. She yelled out. "Shut up and follow me!"

The male, name Zelos Wilder, understood instantly that she wasn't playing around and quickly caught up to her. "What's wrong? Did something bad happen?"

Jumping over the wall that surrounded Meltokio, Sheena didn't know exactly how to answer Zelos's question because she wasn't sure if what she heard was actually true. "I don't know but we need to get to the tree!"

Zelos landed and nodded. They both traveled as fast as they could to their destination

* * *

Over in another part of Tethe'alla, Regal Byrant, a blue haired and muscular male was talking to a girl named Presea Cambatir, who looked like a child, in the region of Altimira when they got wind of what has happened. Their eyes widened beyond belief.

"How is that... possible?" Regal said in a low tone of voice while running outside with Persea.

"I don't know, but I am worried.." Presea trailed off.

The situation was so frightening and shocking that even Presea, a normally coldish and near emotionless girl, was stunned to no perception.

With a second long stare to one another, they left the city in a hurry to meet the rest of their friends.

* * *

Colette Brunnel, the former chosen of Regeneration, was walking, well more like falling around every now and then, while talking to her dear friend, Genis Sage. "I hope the elderly couple will enjoy these cookie, hehe. Also Colette, if you trip again, you might crush the cookies.." Genis snickered after saying that.

"Sorry, I can't help it." Colette said in a cheerful voice while giggling.

They passed by some kids when out of nowhere one of them uttered a name they found to be all too frightful, yet Genis's heart lurched when it was mentioned. They both stopped in their tracks and continued to listen.

"No... way..." Genis couldn't believe what he was hearing, yet he knew the kids were not lying.

Colette quickly dropped off the cookies to the elderly and told Genis they have to go.

* * *

Marta and Emil were on a boat near the outskirts of the Palmacosta.

"M-Marta! You'll fall off if you get any closer to the edge!" Emil warned.

"Oh, don't be silly Emil. I have a lot of balance, y'know." Marta said in a somewhat mocking tone while at the end of the boat, Tenebrae, was laughing to himself.

As they drifted around in the boat, relaxing, they heard a boat full of people talking about very recent and unexpected turn of events. Marta, with shock, fell into the water.

"Ah! Marta!" Emil got her from the water and they rowed back to shore.

Tenebrae quickly said. "We need to meet with the others. I am sure they heard about this as well.

With that being said, all three of them set off.

* * *

Raine Sage was giving some kids some punishment when they was caught drawing on the walls of a certain Triet Ruins. The punishment being a spanking.

"And if I ever see any more filth on these beautiful pieces of work, I'll give you a very long lesson on the history of it! And there will be no Lunch breaks!" Raine said in a dominating tone. One of the kids mentioned about a person with blonde hair and strange white clothes to his friends. A very recent story that seem to spread like wild fire.

From the description the kid provided, Raine knew what this meant. She gathered her supplies quickly and left the Triet Ruins.

* * *

Lloyd Irving was talking to his adoptive father, Dirk, and he looked extremely grave. "Well son, I' ave to tell ya' something." The dwarf said to his adoptive son. Lloyd's eyes blasted wide open when hearing the news.

"What? How-?" Lloyd ponder before remembering the group's promise.

If anything is to go wrong, go to The New World's tree, and let the news spread to everyone in the group.

"Sorry dad, I have to go! Bye Noishe!" Lloyd yelled and ran out of the house faster than he ever had. Faster than when Colette left him to go to the Tower of Salvation first.

* * *

Yuan Ka-Fai was in contact with the Canteriouns, via monsters, and when he gave, Ratatosk's Bearer, Richter had only heard stories, and through gritted teeth, asked Ratatosk. "..What does this mean?"

The core form of Ratatosk could only state lightly. "It means get ready for war. Despite my hatred for it, I might have to be included in that kind of battle since it is him."

Yuan sighed. "Yes. This is a very bad situation. The worst kind in fact." Yuan spoke to the little wolf next to him, which was sent by Tenebrae to keep in contact.

Yuan sent a message to Kratos before consulting the others. He knew they needed him in this. It was dire.

* * *

Kratos was leaning back on Derris Karlan's tree, blinking his dark red, wine colored eyes. He stood up straight and tapped "Open" on the projector. When he read it, he instantly set course for Aselia. He needed to get to the world as fast as he could, so in order to to do this, he gave some of his mana to the tree he was next to. Upon doing this, Derris Karlan was traveling through space at half the speed of light.

"How the hell is he back? ….And why now?" Kratos whispered. "And... it seems I'll need to come up with something to calm Lloyd. He's bound to be flooded with anger and surprise, perhaps fear too."

* * *

A young, blonde haired boy was walking around in Asgard, the city of ruins. Silently thinking to himself, he watched children play nearby and heard their laughter. He tried to think back when he last laughed.

"Right before..." He tried to remember but just couldn't at the time.

After a few minutes had pasted, he remembered something. He started to remember a few names of people. "Yuan... Kratos.. Lloyd..". And a few others hit him, like Remiel, Pyronyma, Rodyle, and others who use to be in Cruxis. He even remembered something else, something called a Summon Spirit. "Uh... Ratatak? Rattosk? No.. Ratatosk.. Yes.. Ratatosk is sounding correct.." He whispered to himself, as so to not be noticed.

The fourteen year old boy cupped his chin, completely disgusted on how bad his memory was being right now.

* * *

"Lloyd.. Yggdrasill's mana signature is somewhere near or in Asgard." Yuan sighed after saying that and continued on. "His mana.. why must he have so much of it still?"

Lloyd was still dumbfounded when hearing Yuan out of intercom that each Rheaird was equip with. "How did this happen?" Lloyd asked.

"We need to know, fast!" Genis said with hurt in his voice.

Presea did observe Genis's sadden facial expression as it may seem he might have to kill Mithos, his friend once again. With that, Presea gave Genis the best sympathetic look she could make when he looked at her, but it did nothing for his concerns.

Zelos raised his eyebrows. "Asgard? Why would he be there? From what I know, it isn't even that good of a place to be at." This earned Zelos a slap from Sheena.

Emil would look to side slowly, thinking to him self. He knew the potential of it all. After all, when he was nonexistent with his other half, he was betrayed by Mithos and his Seraphim. All besides Martal that is.

"So... What do we do if we see him?" Emil question while looking forward.

Lloyd looked towards Emil and Raine stated. "We'll have to... kill... him, again." The word was uncomfortably straining her throat. Genis flinched when hearing his older sister say that. Emil looked down, a little sad when hearing that as well.

Yuan sighed once again over the intercom. "It may be inevitable, but we need to figure out one thing before we think about killing him again. That is how did he come back from being turned into an exsphere, that was shattered into pieces. You guys need to ask him that as soon as you find him." Yuan commanded this.

"But what if he has changed into a good guy? And... Don't we need to wait for Kratos?" Colette suggested. Everyone looked at her. Still being naive after all what Mithos has done in the past, it's truly admirable.

"We need to hurry. If we don't, who know what will happen..." Regal said, presenting a fact.

Yuan nodded. "Yes and I must talk with Kratos about something in private. Now, you all must hurry!"

The group nodded, and made their Rheairds go as fast as possible towards Asgard

* * *

Mean while in Asgard, Mithos was looking around the city while harboring to himself in his own thoughts. He looked at the kids playing play Hide-and-Seek. It reminded him of the few times that Yuan, Martal, Kratos, and himself were all play Hide-and-Seek in the area around the Likite tree. Martal had helped Mithos get at the top of the tree, and there, he was hidden by all the leaves.

Though, when his sister played her wooden flute, a giant bird flew down and scared the living soul out of them. That's how Yuan and Kratos found out they weren't normal.

He snapped out of his memory to one of the kids tugging at his shirt.

"Hmm?" Mithos said while smiling to kids, possibly the most sincere facial expression he had ever done over the past four thousand years, but this fact is unknown to Mithos.

"You wanna play with us? We might need help finding Paul." Said one of the kids.

One of the girls that was playing with them cried out. "Paaaaauuul! Whhhhherrrrreeeee arrreee yoooou?" The little girl was clenching her pink teddy bear.

Mithos nodded and lightly snickered. "I'll play with you guys.~" He started to run around with the children, running in and out of alleys, checking under rocks, in different abandoned houses, the two inns many times. It seem like none of them was going to find Paul any time soon. Then, Mithos had an idea. "Why don't one of you get on my shoulders and check the roof? We'll check all the roofs." He smiled, slightly covered in dirt.

* * *

In Derris Kharlan, Kratos sighed to himself. The massive ball of mana was going fast, but not fast enough. Kratos looked at the tree and gave it more mana. He felt his body weaken a slight bit since mana is the source of life after all.

He decided to think about some things, but only one thing that kept popping into his head. "Why is Mithos back?"

He had no answers. He then leaned back, knowing that Mithos might try to revive Martal again, or something of the sort, or he might destroy the world he 'created'. Sighing once more, not wanting to think of the possibilities.

As if on cue, he received a messaged from Yuan. He pressed the 'Talk' icon on the projector.

"Kratos? Good, I thought I'd have to wait a little longer like last time." Yuan said, satisfied that his old friend answered.

Kratos glared slightly. "Yuan, what have you found out?"

Yuan looked more directly at Kratos through the transparent material before saying. "He's in Asgard."

Kratos raised an eyebrow. "Anything else?"

Yuan looked away for a second. "I got one of the Ratatosk's monsters to scout him and..." Yuan looked back to Kratos, "He's in his younger form, and well... befriending human children.. It makes me feel awkward. He hates Humans and Elves so... it's puzzling."

Kratos stared at Yuan for a good second before blinking. It was as if Kratos's brain had to take time to process what he just heard, he couldn't believe it completely. "You aren't joking?"

"I am not, Kratos. Now hurry yourself to Aselia." Yuan said.

With that, the call ended.

* * *

Back at the world of Aselia.

"Stupid Rheairds! Go faster!" Lloyd growled, completely unsettled.

Genis on the other hand felt betrayed again. He knows he ought not to, but Mithos, his dear yet evil friend is back. He released a sigh as he hoped what Colette said earlier could be true. If so, it would be a second chance for Mithos to atone for what he has done in the past.

"Lloyd... I'm sorry.." Colette said, looking at Lloyd's eyes when he looked back at her. "What if he just want his sister back again..? I do feel a little sorry for him.." Colette said in saddened tone of voice when looking down.

Lloyd looked forward. "Colette, It's not your fault... C'mon, we got a job to do. Save the world again" Lloyd said.

"For the third time!" Colette smiled.

This earned a frown from the others that was riding along beside them.

"Geez, Collete, you make it sound like it's a good thing." Emil said silently.

Marta nearly stood up and saw Asgard coming up to view under the cloud cover. "There's Asgard." She pointed down at the small canyon with the city inside of it.

The group descended.

* * *

At the same time, Derris Kharlan approached Aselia. Kratos was staring down at it. He had never once thought he would actually return. Sighing deeply, he felt he was too old to be this conflicted. Closing his eyes and remembering to get his Flamberge from Anna's grave. "Oh, Anna.. I had hope this wouldn't have happened." He gripped a shard of a Cruxis Crystal. He opened his eyes to look down at the glowing shard, his old friend's shard, Mithos's memento. He shoved it in his pocket as he came into range of Symphonia, "It'd be a lot better down there than up here." Kratos said as he teleported to where Yuan was at.

* * *

Meanwhile at Asgard, Lloyd was looking around the city for Mithos, but all he saw were stalls, houses, rocks, and some kids playing.

Colette looked at Lloyd and suggested. "You know, me and Zelos could fly up and search around for Mithos. Is that okay with you, Zelos and everyone else?"

Zelos of course had a grin on his face when saying. "That, Colette, my lovely little angel, is a brilliant idea!" Zelos then flash a big smile.

Everyone, in agreement, sent Zelos and Colette off on their way to fly about in the city to look for Mithos. They flew over houses, the stone dias, the canyon itself, yet all to no avail. After fifteen minutes of looking around, the group gather back up near the front of the city.

"Ugh! This is taking forever! How hard can it be to find him?" Sheena said, stomping her foot to the ground once while crossing her arms.

"Calm down, Sheena. I know you're on edge, we all are. We'll find him." Raine said in attempt to calm Sheena down a little.

"Alright.." Sheena rubbed her elbow. Last time she fought Mithos, 'The final battle' as they all call it, she remembered having her arm was broken by one of Mithos's judgment spells.

A few hours passed and it was getting Dusk in the sky as the sun was beginning to set.

"We can't find him! Where could he be?" Marta whined. Her feet was starting to hurt, just like everyone elses.

Raine sighed. "We all had no luck. Normally, Genis and I could trace his mana, but for some reason... It's like his mana is gone. Possibly, he can manipulate even his own mana." Raine rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"That's not good." Presea said while looking at Raine.

"But... Guys, it's getting late. We need to get some sleep. Let's get to the inn." Lloyd said.

Genis looking down and sighed to himself and said, "..Mithos.."

Genis looked back when hearing some kids chant something and saw a certain blonde boy behind a barrel with the kids. Genis's eyes widen. "Uh... I think I'm going to watch the sun set guys. I will be at the Inn soon." Genis said as the group looked back at him. Genis was edgy and everyone knew why.

"We'll see in the inn, okay Genis? Be sure to be there before it gets too dark." Raine said, obviously tired and stressed.

Genis thought to himself as he walked to the barrel while the rest of the group made their way to the inn. "Mithos... c-could it be you?"

Another thing that popped in his mind was, "Why is Mithos playing with... Humans? I thought he hated Humans."

Genis stared at the kids running around the blonde boy, hearing the kids say. "We found you, we found you!"

Mithos laughed along with them, in which Genis was almost completely certain it was Mithos due to blonde boy having the same kind of laughing tone that Genis remembered in the past, which surprised Genis, but eerily soothed him. Genis was now behind the blonde boy and sighed just loud enough to make the boy notice him.

The blond haired boy turned around and looked down at Genis. "Oh! You want to pla-... Wait... Do I... know you?" Mithos tilted his head to the side. Genis was looking at Mithos.

"Oh! Uh... I-I don't know... What's your name?" Genis was clearly looking at Mithos's face, which was making his heart pound. He asked that question, just to be sure it was him, as he thought he could be imagining the entire event.

Mithos said in a calm and clear tone. "Me? I'm... I'm Mithos Yggdrasill."


	2. Reunion of former enemies

Even though Genis knew what the answer was, his heart felt as though it skipped a beat when hearing Mithos's answer.

Mithos noticed how he was being stared at by Genis and tilted his head to the side. "Is everything okay?"

With a simple nod Genis reassured him that nothing was wrong.

In his mind, Genis already discovered that Mithos had no idea about any of the deeds he did in his devastating past due to the somewhat awkward conversation they was having, which Genis thought it may be a good thing. It may be another chance for him and Mithos to start over and be good friends once more.

Genis thought to himself. "This.. must be good thing, he doesn't remember. I won't have to worry about being alone at death anymore." Genis did feel regret for not meeting Mithos sooner, before he turned evil.

"So.. You're Genis Sage, huh? It's weird... I have a feeling that I did meet you before. I just don't know when or where." Mithos said while looking at the setting sun in the sky. The children that were there earlier all had to go back home.

"Yeah. So.. Mithos.. Do you have any family?" Genis asked, looking at the now pinkish orange sunset.

"Well.." Mithos kicked a rock to the side with his foot. "I'm looking for my sister. Her name is Martel. Do you know where she might have gone to?" Mithos gingerly said, clearly concerned for his sister.

Genis was surprised even more. "Could this be... Mithos before he became corrupted... Before Martel's death?" Genis said in his mind and he knew he had to tell the others about this.

Genis changed the subject as he was afraid to tell Mithos what happened to his sister. "Say Mithos, would you like to meet my friends..?" Genis looked over, worried about what his friends' reactions was going to be when meeting this new Mithos. Genis scuffed this thought off, knowing they will listen, maybe.

"Really? I can meet more half elves?" Mithos said in an excited tone of voice.

Genis leaned back a bit on the bench they was sitting on. It creaked, but held on when Genis got off it fast.

"They.. They're not half elves, though I do have an older sister. She's really nice, but never eat her food, hehe. C'mon, I'll take you to them!" Genis said, smiling. He felt as if he was in the past at Altessas' house, before the truth. Before the truth of Mithos. Before Mithos Yggdrasill, and before his death.

Genis held up his smile, though remembering this caused his heart to ache just a bit. "Lets go to the inn. Oh, and by the way, my friends are... somewhat weird. They're going to ask you.. Errr... A lot of questions. P-Plus, it might be because you look like someone we know." Genis was extremely nervous. How was he going to explain any of this to the others. He had to think of something up before the short walk is over.

Mithos noticed his new friend's concern and smiled to him. "Don't worry. I bet they're great people!"

Genis looked at the blonde boy and his eyes slightly misty, but he looked away before Mithos could notice. "Y-Yeah, they are." Genis wiped his tears away with his right hand.

"Are you okay Genis?" Mithos asked. A little concerned.

"M-Mhm, just some dust got in my eyes." Genis put his hands to his side quickly.

* * *

"Damn it, where is Genis?" Lloyd asked as he leaned back and rested his head upon a window in the room he was in with the others; looking at the darkening outside world.

"Be patient Lloyd, he should be here soon." Raine said, hiding her fear that something may have happened to her little brother and he might not come back.

Presea, Colette, Zelos, Regal, Emil, and Marta was eating Sheena's special curry.

Someone on the other side of the door was knocking. Everyone guessed it couldn't be Genis due to how hard the knocking was.

"Oh, it could be Genis!" Colette said, being as cute and naive as ever. Lloyd sighed as Colette being naive did comfort him a little.

Lloyd got off the window's edge and walked to the door. Whispering hoarsely, like he had a parched throat. "Who's there?"

Lloyd heart nearly jumped when he heard a familiar, deep voice saying. "It's me, Kratos, and Yuan is beside me. We need to come in. We have a few things to discuss with you all."

Lloyd quickly opened the door to his father and Yuan. Everyone gazed at Kratos, who was standing there in his Seraphim attire.

"Kratos.." Lloyd uttered under his breathe, astonished to see his dad once again.

Yuan walked in quickly, having the wolf follow right behind him. The same wolf that was there to keep him in contact with Emil's other half and Ritcher.

Emil, being attracted to such creatures, went up to the wolf and hugged it. The creature's name was Coffee. "Hi~ How are you?"

Emil cooed as the voice of Ratatosk could be heard behind the group. "What the heck do you think you're doing to my wolf?" Emil slightly blushed and rubbed the back of his head.

"Enough side tracking. We found out that in Vinheim, Mithos's castle, that all the shards of his Cruxis Crystal that was left on his throne chair has suddenly disappeared. We can't seem to find any of the pieces. We only have one piece of the Crystal, the biggest piece in fact. Kratos, if you will." Yuan said, looking at everyone.

Kratos reached into his pocket, but to his surprise and dismay, it was empty inside. He couldn't feel the shard that he placed in his pocket earlier today.

"..What?" Kratos said as he pulled out an empty hand. The group looked at Kratos more directly.

"Kratos, did you lose it?" Yuan asked.

Kratos was slightly confused as to why the shard wasn't in his pocket. "I didn't lose it. I don't lose things. I did have it in my pocket." Kratos said, slightly looking to Yuan.

Yuan scoffed, slightly embarrassed that this had happened. "Well, seems like the shard has went through the same fate as the others."

Kratos sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Well... Since Yuan and I don't sleep, we will go sear-"

There was a much lighter knock at the door suddenly and everyone looked towards the door.

Lloyd went up to the door and asked. "Who's there?"

Genis spoke somewhat loudly so everyone in the room could hear him. "It's me, Genis and... and Mithos."

Upon hearing Genis say this, everyone thought he had gone insane since it been a long and stressful day. But out of the blue, they all heard Mithos laughing silently behind the door. The former Seraphims lost their voices, and stood there in complete awe. Everyone in the room just stayed silent. Lloyd had his right hand upon the hilt of his left blade as he pressed his shoulder to the door. He feared that Mithos was going to attack as soon as he opened the door.

"Uhm... Everyone, we would like to come in p-please." Genis said nervously as he knew everyone behind the door was scared.

Lloyd slowly turned the knob and opened the door about two inches. He peeked through and looked at Genis first and then his gaze went to Mithos. Lloyds' eyes widen quickly but he soon put up a fake calm facial expression.

Lloyds' gaze went back to Genis. "Oh yes, please come in."

Lloyd, at this point, was on edge. Kratos clearly saw this, but his thoughts escaped him when he saw Mithos didn't have the majority of his Cruxis Crystal as he walked in.

"G-Guys, this is..." Genis gulped, knowing this will most likely not end well. "Mithos.. Mithos Yggdrasill."

Mithos bowed and asked. "Nice to meet you all! What are your names?

The group just looked at Mithos. They are all meeting someone who was completely insane and devoid of caring about others besides his sister and Genis while being hell bent on destroying the world that he 'created', just to bring in an age of lifeless beings. Lloyd was especially hurting emotionally since he was the one who finally killed him. But the simple fact that this being, Mithos Yggdrasill, is giving them a real smile and asking for their names was making the group even more confused than scared.

"Oh.. I'm Lloyd Irving." Lloyd said, deciding not to use Kratos's last name, so as to avoid confusion or any sudden outbreaks of death in Asgard.

Sheena gripped her arm and spoke. "I'm Sheena Fujibayashi."

Raine stayed calm; on the outside at least. "I'm Raine Sage, Genis's older sister."

Regal maintained his correct stature, due to him being an experienced businessman. "I'm Regal Bryant."

Presea gazed at Mithos, and saw him looking at the group. She sensed no hostility from him, but she couldn't help but shake a bit. "I'm Presea Cambatir.."

Colette smiled back at him, obviously glad her ideal of Mithos becoming a good guy coming true. "I'm Colette Brunnel! It's a pleasure to meet you, Mithos!" Colette waved at him.

Of course, Colette brought Mithos comfort. Her warm attitude let him feel more welcomed in. Not that the group was really uninviting Mithos in the first place.

Zelos's face twitched, realizing it was his turn to introduce himself to the 'bastard'. "I'm the great Zelos Wilder! I enchant woman from Tethe'allas' Meltokio to Sylvarants' Palmacosta!" Zelos was putting on a fake attitude. This, of course, earned him a slap at the back of his head from Sheena.

"I'm Marta Lualdi! Nice to meet you!" Marta smiled and nodded. She still had a fear of half elves, despite knowing Genis and Raine for about six months.

"I'm Emil Castagnier." Emil lightly smiled to Mithos. Now came the tensest part of the introductions, the old Seraphims.

Mithos looked over at them, noticing that Kratos and Yuan were being completely silent. "Uh... Who are you guys?" Mithos asked while walking over to Kratos and Yuan.

Yuan slightly flinched as he remembered the time when he was kicked in the stomach repeatedly by Mithos in the past.

Kratos opened his mouth and before he could speak, Mithos interrupted him. "Kratos sensei! You've gotten so much.. Older.. And you're a lot more quiet than normal. You'd be like, 'Put that down! You're going to hurt someone!', despite the fact I was only holding a tomato! Hahaha!" Mithos was laughing and made the others, except Kratos and Yuan, laugh nervously with him.

Kratos kept looking at Mithos and thought to himself. "Is his memory.. reset all the way back to the Great Kharlan war..?"

Mithos turned his attention to the blue haired half elf, Yuan. "Oh hey... You look familiar to! Wow, are you guys sure you don't know me?" Mithos's look towards Yuan was getting stern, which was causing the room to feel more tense suddenly. Mithos's eyes widen. "Wait. You... You're the one who..!"


	3. Torment of the past

"..That half elf who was totally all over my sis, Martel?" Mithos asked, making a face that no one would ever forget now; a cute, sincere, and playful face. A face that was fond in Martel's eyes. Everyone laughed at Yuan slightly except Kratos, Presea, Raine, and Regal.

Of course, Mithos felt happy that he got these people, that are nice to him despite his race, to laughed at his words.

Yuan just sat down onto one of the beds. "Oh dear Martel... Why me?" Yuan lightly face palmed. Everyone, except Kratos, never saw this side of Yuan. It was different, yet cheerful like.

Mithos would question Yuan, quickly to. "Martel? Yuan... Do you know where my sister is at? No matter who I ask, they all say 'Go to the Church, you'll find the Goddess there.', or something. Please, please, Yuan, I need to find her. We have to stop the Kharlan war! We have to!" Mithos grabbed Yuan, shaking him.

Yuan just stared at Mithos. He hadn't expected this, and in this state, he was fragile. And considering his last words, he feared that Mithos might try to put the world into turmoil once again for the sake of his sister, who is the spirit of the Symphonia tree, the Yggdrasill tree as Lloyd named it; If he was to tell Mithos that his sister died in the hands of humans.

"Martel.. Martel left to... To.." Yuan trailed off, not knowing where to place her.

"Flanoir. We can't get there now, but we can later on." Kratos said, saving Yuan.

Kratos continued. "For now, we need to rest and plan what to do. Genis, Mithos, Colette, and Lloyd, you four will have to return to Iselia. It's safer there, besides, we can't travel with everyone. Emil and Marta, you got to go to you know where to meet you know who."

"Where and who?" Colette asked, smiling.

Kratos sighed. "Ratty. Katatatata- Damn it.. Rat.." He sighed again. Meeting Mithos again jumbled up his nerves.

Mithos pouted. "But Martel.."

Kratos struck a look at Mithos, a look he use to do in the past to make Mithos behave.

Mithos closed his mouth after saying. "Yes sir..." He looked towards the floor, somewhat disappointed.

Kratos thought to himself. "Hm.. seems like I was right. His memory is reset to The Great Kharlan war. He doesn't remember anything after that... I hope."

Kratos then continued on. "We will all leave at first light in the sky, understood?" Everyone nodded in agreement.

Genis looked at Raine, who was thinking. "Wow. Did he just.. No.. I just forgot he's still seeing Kratos as a teacher. Not as an underling.."

Genis walked over to Mithos to talk to him about random stuff. Genis was relieved that everyone was taking it in and welcoming Mithos. Lloyd wanted to go with his father, Kratos, but obliged to his orders. After all, Colette needed someone to look after her.

* * *

Colette left the room after Marta told her something. Lloyd noticed this, but Mithos would grab at his red ribbons. "Ohh~ The ribbons are so long." Mithos, being in his new child like manner, said in a soft tone of voice.

Lloyd turned just in time to see Mithos yank on them.

"Gak!" Lloyd fell to the floor and Genis laughed at him.

Lloyd glared at Genis and told him. "Shut up."

Lloyd then looked towards Mithos. He was surprised that Mithos was still very strong, though he could see most of his Cruxis Crystal was gone. Pieces of the Cruxis Crystal that was on the Rune Crest was a very dark green color.

Mithos cocked his head to the side. "Lloyd, do you like the color red?"

Lloyd stayed silent for a second before answering. "Yeah, I guess I do, heh."

Mithos smiled and ran to the side of the room to get some paper and some crayons.

Genis watched thoughtfully, as Lloyd saw one of his worst nightmares. Mithos drew Lloyds' face onto the paper, which look almost exactly like the poster he and Genis first saw when they arrived in Triet for the first time, so really it was Mithos who had drawn the wanted poster of Lloyd in the past.

Genis laughed at Lloyds' face. "Hahaahaha! I bet this brings up memories for you, huh Lloyd?"

"Genis..." Lloyd growled and shot a glare at him.

Mithos giggled and stood up. "Well, I'm going to go outside to get some fresh air."

* * *

The others nodded. So, Mithos stepped out of the room and walked pasted Colette.

She blinked when she saw him go by her. "M-Mithos? Aren't you suppose to be staying in there with the others?"

Mithos tossed her a glance. "Yes, but I want to get some fresh air.. Do you want to come with me?"

Colette smiled cheerfully. "Of course I'll come!" She said as she followed silently behind Mithos. Colette, being her usually self, started to ask random questions like: "What's your favorite kind of doggie?" and "Do you like to watch the stars at night?"

Mithos answered each of her questions and smiled at her more and more as time went on.

Mithos was walking up the stairs to the Stone Dias, where Raine had once done a Sacrificial dance to bring out a fake summon spirit, in which the group had destroyed in the past. Colette ran up the stairs so she could be ahead of Mithos, but she tripped and fell upon the stairs.

"Ahh... that hurt.." Colette whispered to herself.

Mithos ran to her and kneel down to her level. He saw her knees, hands and face bleeding a little bit.

"Co-Colette, are you okay?!" Mithos asked while helping her up.

Colette looked at Mithos and smiled. "Ye-Yeah! It doesn't hurt that bad.."

Mithos sighed. "You shouldn't lie like that... nothing good will come out of it. I especially hate lairs and traitors.." Mithos tilted his head down, his blonde bangs covering his eyes. Colette stared at him, under the crescent moon, which dimly lit the town that was over cast in darkness. She felt fear growing stronger than the pain her body is feeling; she was fearing that Mithos was slowly going back to how he was in the past.

"Mi-Mithos? Are you okay? She whispered.

Mithos snapped his head back up. "Oh.. Oh! Colette, I'm sorry. I can do this little walk later, right now we need to take you to Raine so she can heal your wounds, Okay?"

Colette looked at him more directly and said. "I'm sorry.."

Mithos than smiled at her. "It's okay, silly."

The two walked down the stairs silently. Colette was rubbing her wounds slightly.

Mithos stopped and looked up at the moon. "Luna.. Aska.. I can't feel either of you anymore.." Mithos looked back down at the stairs and followed behind Colette.

* * *

"Thank you, Professor Sage!" Colette smiled at Raine after she was healed.

Mithos was out on the balcony, staring at the night sky with blank eyes. Lloyd and the others already went to bed, all besides the adults and a giddy Genis. Kratos saw Genis walking towards Mithos and lightly chuckled before closing the movable wall panel that would make the one big room into two smaller rooms. He figured Genis wanted some time alone with Mithos. Genis was now at the balcony with Mithos, though at first, Mithos didn't pay no mind to him, for he was too lost in his own thoughts and the eternity of the stars in the night sky.

"Mithos, are you okay?" Genis asked, noticing the look upon Mithos's face.

Mithos snapped out of his heavy thoughts and looked at Genis slightly. "Ah... Genis, you startled me.. Hehe." Mithos blushed lightly.

Genis snickered. "Mithos, you're blushing.." Genis looked at Mithos more, noticing something else. "Mithos.. Are... you c-crying?"

Mithos shot his hands onto his face. "Sorry. I... uhm... get a little emotional... when I look out into the sky. Where all the souls go to when they die... To join the stars." Genis stayed silent as Mithos dropped his hands from his own face and put them upon the railing.

After a long pause, Genis spoke again when another question popped into his head. "Hey Mithos?"

Mithos lightly smiled and looked towards Genis again. "Yes?"

Fiddling with his fingers, Genis asked. "Mithos... How did you know that Raine could heal?"

Mithos flinched, not expecting that kind of question. "Well... she has a rod that looks like my sisters' rod... So I just assumed.."

Genis held in his breathe when Mithos was answering, and then let it out in a sigh of relieve. "Ah okay. Anyways, wanna go out for a walk? I'm not really tired." Genis grinned.

Mithos replied with a soft smile. "Alright."

* * *

Mithos and Genis left the Inn and began to walk around in the canyon city. The two pointed out constellations in the night sky. Constellations like: The Unicorn, Rattatosk, The 'Spirit of Derris Kharlan', etc.

After mentioning Derris Kharlan, Mithos stayed quiet for a second, to then asked. "Genis, do you want to go to Derris Kharlan? I think I need to get there... To show that it's not only for elves, but for everyone."

Genis smiled. "Of course, and I'll come-" Genis stopped abruptly, hearing the sounds of sobs near.

Mithos closed his eyes and let himself locate the exact location of where the noises was wailing from. The noises was coming from an alley way. He started to jog to the location and Genis was running right behind him.

"Look, there she is!" Genis pointed into the alley way, where a little girl was crying into her green doll.

"Sister.. Why'd you leave me?" The girl said while sobbing loudly. Her short and messy blonde hair covered the upper part of her tear and dirt stained face.

Mithos grimaced. "Are you okay?" He slowly went towards the girl and Genis stand behind him.

"My sister... She was taken away from me.." She dove her head deeper into the doll. "Now I'm alone.. All alone... She has to come back for me.."

Genis reached over and lightly gripped the girl's shoulder. "Don't worry.. We'll find her, okay? Right Mithos?" Genis feared that the girl was suffering through what Mithos went through when his sister died. Genis also asked Mithos the question for support.

Mithos lightly smiled. "Yes.. Want to come with us? We'll help you, okay?" He gently nudged the girl to get up and come with them. She looked up, flashing her pale blue eyes, and stood up.

The girl was just a few inches shorter than Genis. Her age must had been either six or seven. She was wearing a white dress that reached her knees, and it was spaghetti strapped. On the front of the dress, the only design on it was a simple red circle with three ovals branching off from it, one oval straight down, and the other two trailed off from either side.

The girl silently followed beside the two boys as they tried to comfort her by saying: "We'll find her." and "We won't let anything happen to you." But she refused to answer any of their questions.

Mithos lightly sighed. "What's your name..?"

The girl looked down. "Sadness.."

Mithos looked at Genis in a confused facial expression, in which Genis lightly shrugged.

"Well, what is your sister's name?" Genis asked.

The girl clung to her doll tightly. "Mar...Martel.. After the Goddess.."Genis looked at her, surprised yet had a stronger urge to help the girl find her sister.

Mithos smile curtly and told Genis. "Will you go tell the others about her? We're looking for two Martels now, heh."

Genis nodded and smiled back at Mithos. "Alright! I'll be right back, okay?" He ran off towards the Inn.

Mithos then turned towards the girl and he glanced at the doll, to then slightly frown. "That doll is... disturbing.." He didn't say anything else for a good second.

The girl then spoke up to Mithos. "Mithos.. Do you accept me? I'm a half elf, and my sister died because I couldn't protect her.."

Mithos's heart jumped from hearing that and lightly coughed. "What do you mean?.."

The girl studied him. "You really lost your memory... You'll hate me.."

Mithos raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about? I'm a half elf to and the only thing I know is that I lost most of my memory, and that so many things have changed in such a-"

"Four thousand year gap." She finished for him.

Mithos looked startled at this point. "W-What? That's impossible. I'm may be a half elf, but not an immortal."

The girl smiled. "Then why do you have that evil smile on your face, big brother?"

Mithos shuddered. "What?! S-Stay away fr-" He stumbled back and fell onto his rear end.

The girl walked forward and dropped the doll. Her left eye began to glow a pale green and red. "Please big brother, let me return..."

The girl became transparent and a shard came out of her body and flew into his Rune Crest, fitting in place with his cracked, dark green Cruxis Crystal.

* * *

In a flashback, Mithos, Yuan, and Kratos was all in a forest with many trees surrounding them.

"Hey, sister! Sister!.. Yuan, Kratos.. Have you seen Martel? A little Mithos galloped around, looking under rocks and holes for her.

Yuan sighed. "For the last time, she left to get some food!"

Kratos face palmed lightly. "Yuan, you get annoyed too easily. He's just hyper from eating too many apple gel candy."

Mithos pouted. "Why do you say that? Oh, sister's here, yay!"

Off in the distance, the three men could see Martel walking down the hill towards them. She had a bright smile on her face as she was carrying a basket full food and drinks.

Mithos ran up the hill towards Martel and hugged her tightly. "Kratos and Yuan were teasing me.."

Martel chuckled. "Now, now, you two mustn't pick on him. You'll just end up getting a beating from me if you make him cry."

Kratos and Yuan nodded, having no doubt in their minds she would beat them up in the sake to make Mithos feel better. They all sat down on the ground to set up for dinner.

* * *

In another flashback, Mithos and his three companions was in the battlefield of the Great Kharlan war. Mithos than turned around to see a human having a knife inside of Martel's back and his eyes widen from shock and horror.

* * *

Back at current times, Mithos was on the ground, crying and screaming. He clutched his face, and crumbled to the ground. "Why... Why do they hate us so much?... Why?" Mithos's heart felt like it just got ripped into pieces. Lloyd and the rest of the group met up to Mithos, who was still laying on his side on the ground.

"Mithos, what's wrong?!" Lloyd asked and Genis gasped.

Mithos screamed even louder and clutched his right hand to his left chest, he felt his heart hurting more from emotional stress.

"Mithos, quiet down, you'll wake up everyone around here." Kratos said sternly.

Mithos quieted down eventually and got up from the ground to look up at Kratos. He had the doll in his right hand, the doll of Martel. "You lied Kratos... Humans are worthless.. Cruel.." Mithos burst out crying again. "Martel's dead! Kratos and Yuan. you saw her die with your own eyes! Why didn't you tell me?! Why didn't you two help her?!..Why do does it feel like I am suffering through this again..and again... and again! Why?! Liars! Liars, everyone!" He clutched the doll to his chest and trembled.

"Mithos.. I... I'm sorry." Genis said, feeling guilty.

Mithos snapped. "You knew too?! How could you... No wonder she said four thousand years! I have come back from.. the dead... to relive my pain? Is t-this what I get for not protecting Martel?... What have I done to deserve this?!"

Everyone else was just lost for words though Kratos was thinking to himself, saying, "He regain some more memories..."


	4. Trust of two

"M-Mithos... please calm down. The reason why we didn't want to tell you is because.. we didn't want you to feel like this at all.." Genis said, attempting to calm Mithos a little bit.

Mithos slowly looked down at the ground. "You... Kratos, told me she was at Flanoir.."

Kratos stayed silent and Genis spoke up once again while walking towards Mithos. "Mithos... I understand you're hurting right now but don't think that all humans are evil. We are your friends and we wish nothing but happiness to be granted upon you, because we believe you deserve it.."

Zelos slowly crossed his arms and looked to the side as he didn't believe what Genis just said, but he kept his mouth shut. Genis slowly clasped his hand onto Mithos's hand that wasn't holding the doll. Genis eyes were watery, he was praying for Mithos to not revert back to his evil self from the past. Mithos slowly closed his hand onto Genis's hand and lightly nodded, but didn't say anything. The group was looking at Mithos directly, just hoping, like Genis, he wouldn't become sick and twisted again. If he was to, they'll have to kill him again. Lloyd felt this especially, but he knew it would be necessary if Mithos did go evil again.

* * *

The group went back into the Inn and Mithos went to the bathroom without saying a word. The shower could be heard being turned on. Lloyd called everyone for a group meeting on the other side of the room while Mithos was in the bathroom.

"Guys... I fear that Mithos is going to remember more and more... And eventually he'll remember us completely." Lloyd said while looking at everyone.

"If that is the case, we need to be ready for when he strikes." Regal said.

"Hold on just a second, you guys are already assuming that he's going to turn evil again?" Everyone looked towards Genis as he was continue speaking. "There is a possibility that he might, but I choose not to believe that. Mithos has come back with a near fresh start and I will not let anything try to corrupt him again. With everything he has gone through in the past, it's not completely his fault he went insane. Mithos deserves a second chance you guys.. and unlike in the past, we can get to him much more early in his life. We can show him love, attention, and happiness. That not all humans and elves are evil. That he isn't alone in this world. That... That I do c-care for him and don't want him to l-leave me again... I...I..." Genis was trembling and tears was falling down his cheeks. His hands were clutched into tight fists and his head was hung low. Raine rubbed her hand upon Genis's back, feeling the sadness and concern Genis passionately expressed.

"Genis.." Raine said under her breath.

"I do believe that Mithos did lose most of his memories and this could be his second coming. If that's the case, then I will help Genis show Mithos the right path."Lloyd said in a heroic tone. Genis looked towards Lloyd.

"Well.. In all honesty, I still don't trust Mithos." Zelos had the need to express his opinion.

"Why not? He hasn't done anything evil yet." Colette exclaimed.

"You are right about that, my beautiful angel, but I believe that if he keeps gaining his old memories, it's only a matter of time he remembers us killing him, and you think he's going to take that fine and dandy?" Zelos said in a serious manner.

"Zelos, you're an idiot!" Sheena said somewhat loudly, as to not alarm Mithos who was still in the bathroom.

"No.. Zelos might have a point. If he does gain more of his old memories of us not being on his side and killing him, he might try to attack or something." Yuan said. Colette looked down and sighed.

"I am sorry Genis, but I do not trust Mithos completely yet." Regal exclaimed.

"I.. I am sorry Genis, but same here." Presea said after Regal.

"This Mithos guy that you told me and Marta before sounds very powerful and in all honesty... I kind of don't want to take the risk of giving him a chance." Said Emil, speaking for both himself and Marta, who also agreed.

"No! He will not turn evil again because by the time he remembers that, if he even does, he will have trust in us and in this world, in which he would understand why we did what we had to do to him in order for the world to be saved. By the pace of him remembering things, it will be while till he gets to a point of him remembering fighting us for the first time in the Tower of Salvation. I know for a fact though that very soon he's going to ask us everything we know that he doesn't know.." Genis sighed after saying all of that.

"Well in the meantime we keep a watchful eye on Mithos. We all need to do everything we can to prevent him from going insane again, is that understood?" Kratos said while looking directly at Zelos, who just nodded.

"I think everyone should go back to bed." Yuan said. Everyone nodded and went to their beds except Genis, Lloyd, Mithos, Yuan and Kratos.

* * *

About five minutes later, Yuan and Kratos asked Zelos, Sheena, Raine, Presea, and Regal to stepped out of the room with them, to discuss a few more things while Genis was cooking some curry in an attempt to relax. The amount of curry he was making was only enough for two or three people. He looked down into the pot and lightly sighed, trying to hold back his tears. He looked around the kitchen, which was mostly empty of course. He looked back at the pot of boiling curry, and added some spices to it. He then reached over to bag of foods and goods that the group carries around when they're together. He was trying to grab some herbs but pulled out the white flower he and Mithos used to cure Raine from the Ozette flu. Genis then started to day dream a detailed flashback. A flashback of a time he had with Mithos six months ago, before the truth of Mithos was revealed.

* * *

In the flashback, everyone was sitting in the diner table in Altessa's house when they heard the door open. They saw Raine leaning over Regal with Sheena and Zelos right beside them both. Raine was suffering through the Ozette flu and Mithos saw this.

While everyone was discussing a way to cure Raine, Mithos pulled Genis outside of the house, "Genis, I know a way to heal Raine."

"You do?! Tell me how." Genis was happy that Mithos knew a way.

"Okay, follow me then." Said Mithos in a soft tone of voice and Genis followed right behind him. Both of them made their way to Fuji mountains region and got to the top of the tallest mountain it had there. It was beautiful up top the mountain. The sky was clear of clouds and the stars could be seen, white flower petals were flying in the winds' current.

Genis got onto his knees to the soft ground and chuckled in happiness while say. "Amazing, I can heal Raine with these!" Genis turned his head to look back at Mithos and continued to talk. "You're so knowledgeable about herbs. You're incredible, Mithos!"

Genis then looked down to the field of white flowers with a bright smile and his right hand attempted to grab one of the flowers before Mithos said. "It's because we could never go to a doctor when we got sick."

Genis's hand stopped and his smile disappeared and Mithos continued on. "I know everything." Genis turn his head again to look back at Mithos as his blue eyes was misty. Mithos continued on. "Like how to drink dirty water without hurting your stomach. How to sneak into a farm to get an egg. How do deal with the pain when hit by something. As well as..." Mithos stopped talking and stared at Genis for a second before Genis turned his head.

Genis's white bangs covering his eyes and he softly spoke. "I'm sorry.. My sister has always been around to look out after me.."

Mithos blinked a few times. "Genis.."

Mithos then walked up behind Genis and got onto his knees while still being behind Genis. His arms then slowly wrapped around Genis's body. His chest upon Genis's back as he opened his mouth to speak a little more. "You've said nothing to apologize for." Mithos's eyes was half opened while Genis's eyes was wide open. Mithos continued on. "It's the people who are prejudice against half elves like us who are at fault.."

* * *

Back to current times, Genis's eyes was filled with tears as he was staring down at the pot of curry. His hands was upon his arms, his left hand upon his right arm and his right hand upon his left arm, as he felt like he could feel that same hug he got from Mithos six months ago. His body was shaking a bit as he whispered. "Mithos... Even back then, you still c-cared enough to help me heal my sister. I will not lose you again, I will protect you from the pain of losing your sister and being discriminated... I promise."

Then there was a knock on the kitchen door, which made Genis nearly jump out of his skin. He then spoke in a slightly scared tone. "W-Who is it?"

"It's me, Lloyd. Can I come in?" Lloyd was slightly worried for Genis and wanted check up on him.

"Yeah.. sure come in." Genis then grab the herbs he needed for the curry and put the white flower into his pocket. Lloyd then opened the door to walk into the kitchen half way before Genis lightly smirked and said. "Only if you wear a hairnet."

Lloyd frowned, "Do I have to..?"

"Yes you do. Look at your hair, it's all wild like. Some of it could get into the curry." Genis snickered and Lloyd grumbled while putting on the hairnet.

"So, what do you need Lloyd?" Genis picked up the pot of curry and placed onto the counter to finish putting spices in it after turning off the stove.

Lloyd sighed. "We got to..." His voice caught. "Got to..."

Genis froze and looked towards Lloyd. "Lloyd... What? No... No!" Genis knew exactly what Lloyd was about to say and his hands balled up into tight fists.

Lloyd slowly shook his head and sighed. "I heard them talking outside of the room. They didn't even talk to us about it fully when I called in the group meeting... Not to Colette, Emil, or Marta...only the adults. They're treating us like they did from the first part of our past journey to save the world... like kids." Lloyd then looked down after saying that.

Genis as shaking even more and his face was red from the pent up sadness, anger, and frustration as he spoke. "Great... Now I'll be all alone again when you guys pass a-away..."

Lloyd then looked towards Genis. "I'm... I'm sorry Genis.."

Genis clenched his teeth. "Not all alone, right now I have you and the others but...it.."

"It won't be the same as one of your kind.." Lloyd finished for him.

Genis nodded and then asked. "Hey Lloyd.."

"Yes Genis?" Lloyd looked at Genis turning back to the pot of curry.

Using a big spoon to pour in curry into two bowls, Genis then said. "How do they plan on... y-you know.." Genis then looked up at Lloyd.

Lloyd flinched. "I don't kn-"

The kitchen door then swung open. "Genis, if you're really my friend then let's run away to Triet. Lloyd, you come to!" Mithos was standing there, telling them in a loud whisper to run away with him.

Genis was awestruck, "M-Mithos, what?"

Lloyd stared at Mithos, "Huh?"

Mithos sighed and looked to the side. "I heard what Kratos, Yuan, Sheena, Zelos, Raine, Regal, and Presea was talking about after I was done with my shower. I don't want to die. I know you two actually care about me... and I honestly don't know what's going on! I need to know why most of the people in your group don't trust me, and what you mean by 'Second coming'. Please, we can leave after", he smelt the air, "we finish that good smelling curry."

Genis looked up at Lloyd again, who shrugged. "Well... Alright. Genis, what about you." Genis's heart was pounding and he had a wide smile upon his face as he couldn't believe that Lloyd was going to actually help Mithos, too. He lightly nodded.

Genis poured three equal portions of curry into three bowls and they ate silently. They only talked once during the meal.

"So Mithos... how did you hear Kratos and them talking if they was out of the room?"

Mithos looked towards Lloyd when he asked that. "W-Well, I can hear things so good in fact that I was able hear you guys talking when I was taking my shower. I heard you and Genis talking about helping me out and getting me to the right path and that I deserve a second chance, which I am still a little confused about, but I will ask you guys about that later. Anyways, when I turned off the shower, that's when I could hear Kratos talking about... k-killing me to avoid the c-chance of me going evil... though I don't even know why he w-would think I would go evil.."

Genis sighed, thinking to himself. "They lied... they said they was going to do everything to prevent Mithos from going evil... not actually kill him again.."

Lloyd then said. "Well don't worry, we will figure something, but I won't let you be killed."

Genis then thought up of something. "What about our belongings, Kratos is in there..."

Mithos shook his head. "Simple, he's most likely going to be talking to Yuan all night, so when they're talking, I'll sneak in and get out stuff."

Genis shook his head."I'll do it, I'm smaller."

Lloyd cleared his throat. "I'll do it. I may be wearing red, yet I can sneak through a crowd easily."

Genis sighed. "And you can pick locks to."

Mithos then asked. "Lloyd … are you a thief?"

Lloyd nearly choked on his food. "N-No! I just have some talents.."

Mithos nodded. "Alright. Well Lloyd will sneak our stuff out and I'll get Ratatosk to cover our mana signatures. Though I can't feel him in me for some reason.."

Genis then said. "I'll take care of that part. He might, uhm, hurt you."

Mithos sighed and nodded. "Fine, I am trusting you two as you guys seem to care about my well being, unlike the others.

The plan was set amongst the three: To run away and be with Mithos until things were sorted out.


	5. Better goals in mind

Lloyd, Genis, and Mithos finished their curry meal in a hurry.

"Alright, while I sneak our stuff out, you and Genis will open the window over there at the back of the kitchen, get out of Asgard, and wait for me at the front, okay?"

The young half elves nodded to what Lloyd said. While Lloyd slowly left the kitchen, Genis pulled up the window and got outside with Mithos. They ran out of Asgard as quick as they can while not alerting anyone else. Lloyd walked into the main part of the room, seeing that everyone was asleep though Kratos and Yuan was not in the room.

"Perfect." Lloyd said under his breathe while he grabbed Genis's bag, which, of course, had all of Genis's clothes and his Kendama. He caught Colette sleeping in his gaze and smiled.

He place his hand upon her cheek softly and thought to himself. "Colette, I would ask you to come with us... but I feel as though if you stay with the rest of the group, you will talk some sense into them. To make them not want to kill Mithos.. To make them give him a chance to atone for what he's done in the past." Lloyd slowly moved his hand from Colette's cheek and went to get his own bag too. He went to the kitchen, and escape the Inn through the open window.

* * *

Mithos and Genis was waiting for Lloyd near the entrance of the ruin city. Genis went down to tie his shoes, while Mithos was standing right beside him.

"Genis... I heard that I was... evil in my past life.. What have I done four thousand years ago?" Mithos seemed to be in fear of what the answer is going to be.

Genis stood up and then turned around to face Mithos when he asked that question. "Well... you er..." Genis was too nervous to tell Mithos.

Mithos saw this, "You fear that if you tell me, I will go evil again huh?"

Genis nodded and looked down, "I promised that I was going to p-protect you from the pain of you losing your sister and being discriminated upon by humans and elves. I don't want to l-lose you a-again Mithos..." Genis was shaking at this point and looked down. He than felt a pair of arms coil around his body and held him close and tight, it was Mithos's arms.

"I... don't think I could go evil again. Even though I don't remember much for my previous life, and that I don't see myself ever becoming evil, but I do believe you when you say I was evil before. I...I don't think I will be able to sleep at night, knowing that I have hurt you once again. So, this time, I will not hurt you... I won't leave your side... I won't be evil again" Genis laid his cheek upon Mithos's chest slowly and nodded, his hands lightly gripping Mithos's back. Just then, Lloyd got to the area they was in and cleared his throat loudly so both of them could hear. They quickly moved their arms away from each other and slightly blushed while turning to Lloyd.

"O-Oh Lloyd, you're here." Genis said while rubbing the back of his own head, and Mithos simply smiled.

"Yeah, I am here. I was thinking, that we should walk our way to Triet and not use to Rheairds. I am positive that the group is going to be looking for us and if we take the Rheairds, Raine will be able to pick up the mana emissions that the Rheairds leave off." Lloyd said while handing Genis his bag.

Mithos tilted his head slightly. "What are Rheairds?"

"Flying machines, Mithos." Genis explained to Mithos.

"Already, lets get out this region and then we set up camp after we have walked at least an hour, okay?" Lloyd said, both Genis and Mithos nodded, and followed behind Lloyd as he was carrying both his and Genis's bag.

After about an hour of walking, Lloyd set up camp in the outskirts of the Triet desert. Mithos and Genis were sleeping in the tent while Lloyd was sitting next to fire, poking at the fire wood with a stick. Toss and turning in his flat bed, Mithos was having a flashback in his dream.

* * *

In the flashback, back at the Great Kharlan war, Mithos pick up the wounded Martel from the ground and quickly carried her out of the battlefield and into the heavy forest.

Yuan was fighting off some of the human warriors with Kratos.

Kratos then said to Yuan, "Calm yourself, Yuan!"

In a deep huff, Yuan turned around, seeing more human warriors coming after them. Anger and sadness in his voice, Yuan than screamed. "Why? Why was there a need to stab her?!"

Blood was coming out of the deep wound Martel got from the knife that stabbed her.

"Martel!" Mithos said loudly as he kneel down to Martel's side when he laid her down upon a large tree root "Why?!" Mithos said out of anger as his hands were covered by a yellow light, trying to heal his dying sister. He kept looking at the wound and the blood that was leaking down the tree root. Mithos's eyes widen and his mouth opened as he kept trying to heal Martel. Mithos's eyes was getting watery as he kept looking at his sister's body and getting more stressed. "Sis!" Mithos then looked directly Martel. He had a facial expression of shock, fear, and sorrow.

Martel slowly opened her eyes and softly said. "I'm sorry." Her left hand quickly rose up half way and Mithos saw the blood on her hand before look right back to his sister. Martel continued. "I can no longer be with you." Martel's bloody hand slowly clasped Mithos's cheek.

Before Martel could put her hand down, leaving some of her blood upon his cheek, Mithos quickly gripped it with his hand and said in a loud, pleading tone. "No! Weren't we going to stay together forever?! Being next to you is the only place for me! If you're gone... where am I going to go?" Mithos's other hand was upon the side of Martel's head.

Martel then looked up to the clear night sky, her eyes was slightly tearing up, and said. "I'm sure that, someday, there will be a world without prejudice." A tear rolled down Martel's cheek and her eyes closed. She went silent and Mithos stared at her for before asking. "...Sis?" Martel's hand slipped out of Mithos's hand that was grasping it and his eyes widen quickly when watching that happen. He then screamed out. "Sis!"

Still in the flashback, Mithos woke up as he was in Altessa's house. He had a look of sorrow and regret as he got up off the bed and walked out of Altessa's house. Walking slowly and looking towards the moon for a second, Mithos saw someone standing next to a tree. It was Pronyma. He stopped in his tracks and Pronyma stepped out of the shadow that the tree was casting over.

She lightly smiled to Mithos and asked. "How were they, the half elf siblings? Can you get them to be on our side?"

Mithos walked up beside Pronyma and stopped in his tracks once again. His blonde bangs covering his eyes and he didn't answer her question neither. Pronyma stood there before realizing something was wrong. "Was you having that dream again?" Pronyma asked, having a concerned look upon her face as she had her hands upon her lips, she then clasped her hands together as she kept talking. "You poor thing... after four thousand years, that painful memory still persists."

Mithos's bangs still covering his eyes as he asked Pronyma. "...Am I alone?"

Pronyma started to cry while she got on knees to pledged her loyalty to Mithos. "I, Pronyma, am here for you. I'll always, always be here for you. I pledge myself to you, Mithos." Pronyma slowly blushed and closed her eyes. Mithos just stood there for about three second before turning around, and had his right hand upon Pronyma's throat.

Mithos's eyes was devoid of emotion as he was choking Pronyma. "Only my former companions can call me by that name.."

Pronyma was gasping for air and Mithos's one hand choke hold grew tighter as purple light was emitted upon the palm of his hand. Mithos then said coldly. "Get out of my sight." Pronyma screamed loudly as a purple orb was surrounding Pronyma's body.

Genis and the others heard the screams and ran out of Altessa's house, to then watched in horror as Mithos was making Pronyma's body turn completely purple and slowly dematerialize into the air. Genis was watching Mithos in shock and Mithos turned his head to look directly at Genis after Pronyma's body was gone.

* * *

Back to current times, Mithos was yelling and screaming in his sleep as the flashback dream went on, he saw himself killing Pronyma, all because she simply said 'Mithos' instead of 'Yggdrasill'.

"Mithos, wake up! You're having a bad dream!" Genis said, while shaking Mithos in attempt to wake him up as Lloyd was doing the same thing. Mithos quickly opened his eyes after hearing Genis. Out of nowhere, Lloyd and Genis was pushed back through the tent and into the sand from a sudden unknown force that came out of Mithos's body. Genis landed about fifteen feet away from the tent and Lloyd instantly recovered from the push, so he landed about five feet away. Genis slowly got up and looked at the tent as Mithos walked out.

Looking at his shaking hands, which was glowing a white, holy like, color. Mithos asked."W-What is this.."

Genis ran to Mithos before stopping as he was right beside him. "Did you remember s-something else, Mithos?" Genis asked nervously.

"Yes... I... I remember watching my sister die... I couldn't... save her.." Mithos tried to hold back from busting out crying as he continued on. "Then... I woke up on a bed and walked outside, to then meet this woman named Pr...Prama...Pronyma, and... I... I killed her in cold blood. She pledged herself to me and I..." Mithos caught his breath and began to cry loudly as he got onto his knees to the sand. His hands was to his face and Genis wrapped his arms around Mithos's shoulders, trying give out comfort to Mithos.

Lloyd walked up to both Mithos and Genis, softly saying. "Hey, it's okay Mithos. I understand it's painful, but you are strong at heart, mind, soul and body. Don't lose track of your true self, no matter what happens in your life okay?"

"Lloyd is right. Besides, me and him will help you through all of this, okay?" Genis said lightly.

Mithos huffed deeply and gripped onto Genis and Lloyd at the same time. All three hugging tightly, though Genis and Lloyd only did this to comfort Mithos, make him feel better, and let him know that they're in this with him.

After calming down, Mithos asked. "..I need to know e-everything you guys know. I n-need to know my past.. I need to know why I was evil in my previous life, why I am reliving this pain.."

"We will tell you Mithos.." Genis said in a low tone of voice. Off in the distance where Genis, Lloyd and Mithos was at, Coffee was spying on them. Eventually, it left the desert to alert Yuan on what was happening.

At the Stone Dias, Yuan and Kratos was standing next to the large stone that once housed a fake summon spirit.

Yuan looked at it and slightly nodded before saying. "I am almost positive that this Mausoleum has something to do with Mithos coming back to life. I can feel pent up mana inside of it and it's the same kind of mana that Mithos use to have... Cold, heartless, but powerful mana."

Kratos crossed his arms now. "How can this bring back Mithos? Last time I visited here, it was holding a fake summon spirit. It doesn't make any sense, Yuan."

Yuan then jumped on top of the enchanted slab and looked down at the symbols and designs it had on top of it. He rubbed his forehead and sighed, seeing that he wasn't going to go anywhere with this.

Yuan softly spoke. "I believe that this Mausoleum didn't do all the work in bring back Mithos from the dead, though I think it simply brought him here after he revived by whatever revived him in the first place." Yuan then looked up to the clear night sky.

"Hm, it must had been something much more powerful than what Mithos attempted when trying to revive Martel. At least Martel's Cruxis Crystal wasn't broke or anything. Mithos's however was shattered into pieces by Lloyd and with that, his soul was free." Kratos said while looking up to the night sky as well.

"Another puzzle that is on my mind is what happened to the shards of Mithos's Cruxis Crystal. Why have they disappeared?" Yuan scoffed in a low tone of voice as he was walking back to where Kratos was at.

"Exactly, and I observed Mithos's cracked Crystal, which was green with a slight red tint in it instead of it being fully red when we first meet him in the Inn. Then after we discover Mithos remembering his sister had died, it had more of a red tint to it. I am starting to believe that the more memories that Mithos remembers... The more it is possible he'll get corrupted again. I can't risk this world being destroyed again by Mithos." Kratos felt a little sorrow when finishing his last sentence. In all honesty, he wanted Mithos to have a second chance, but after how he acted a few hours ago, he feared Mithos wasn't going to trust no one and become evil again.

Yuan looked down and sighed. "I can't imagine what Genis is going to feel like... when Mithos is gone again. This plan makes me sick to the point where I almost don't want to do it, but the risk is too great."

Kratos slowly placed his hand upon Yuan's shoulder, completely understanding that killing Mithos is going to be difficult. Just then, Coffee ran up behind him and in Ratatosk's voice said. "Kratos and Yuan, Mithos has escaped with Genis and Lloyd at his side. They made camp near the Triet desert."

Kratos and Yuan nodded, quickly flew down the stairs, rushed into the Inn, and into the room that the rest of the group was still in sleeping.

"Everyone, wake up! Mithos, Lloyd and Genis has left the Inn and is going to Triet desert! Get packed and get ready to head out in five minutes!" Kratos said loudly, which startled and woke everyone up instantly. The group was packing their stuff as fast as they could while Kratos, Yuan, and Coffee left the Inn.

"What the hell is Mithos doing?! Trying to get Genis to be on his side again, and have Lloyd be in his company to?!" Zelos was pissed off at this point and had enough drama that concerned with Mithos.

"I don't know but we're going to find them and get some answers!" Raine said with anger and passion in her voice. Just like Zelos, she didn't trust Mithos at all, and mainly due to him being close with her little brother, Genis.

Colette was packing somewhat slowly, her mind was busy thinking about Lloyd. "Lloyd, how could go without me..? I don't understand what you're doing with Mithos. Just... please be careful."

Everyone finished packing and left the Inn.

"We'll go on foot simply because, just like Raine and Genis, Mithos is a half elf and will be able to pick up any mana coming towards him if we use the Rheairds, but we must make haste to catch up to them." Kratos said as he took the lead of running on foot. Everyone else followed right behind him.

* * *

Back to where Lloyd, Mithos, Genis was at. Genis and Lloyd was explaining Mithos's past life; what he had done, why they believed he turned insane and gave up hope in the world of Aselia, etc. When Genis and Lloyd were finished explaining, which took about an hour and thirty minutes, Mithos could be seen shaking, his face red and had a look of disbelief and horror in his eyes.

"I... I was that hell bent on reviving Martel that I was g-going to destroy the world that I love?!" Mithos exclaimed and asked loudly. Mithos's hands was upon the side of his face as he looked down at the sand below him. He was disappointed at himself because he actually could see himself turning twisted and insane in order to revive Martel. That urge now being in his mind and heart, which he did not like what so ever.

Lloyd looked down and sighed.

Genis then spoke up, "Yes... You was going to destroy everything you love and 'created' just to revive your sister. So there y-you go Mithos... that's why everyone doesn't trust you. But me and Lloyd trust you completely. In all honesty, I didn't want you to know any of this because I don't want you to be hurting again..." Genis then scooted forward to be in front of Mithos, who was sobbing a bit.

"What I meant by 'second coming', should now be obvious Mithos. This is your second chance to atone from all the bad, horrible, and nasty things you did in this world. Repent and atone for it and try to do good this for this world. I believe that the more good things you do, it will out weigh the bad things you did in the past, and then you will be forgiven by the Goddess Martel." Lloyd watched Mithos, to see his reaction after what he just stated.

Mithos then slowly wiped his eyes and nodded. "So no wonder I can't feel none of the summon spirits..." Mithos then lightly smiled to Genis, "In a way, I can see why I did lose my mind when I lost Martel... I do feel like I can't trust this world..."

Lloyd slowly placed his hand upon the hilt his blade, thinking that Mithos was reverting back to his old self. Genis tensed up as he was thinking the same.

Mithos than softly said. "But I do trust this world because I still have faith in this world, I still love living in it, and you guys care so much about me that you're willing to do everything to help me make up all the bad things I do in the past. Your plan to make the world a better place for every race to live in is the same plan I still have in my mind right now. Granted, a world with lifeless beings does sound like it can work but... now that I think about, it will be very boring, hehe. Everyone being the same, nothing cool or interesting happening. It's not right, and even though I wish people wouldn't discriminate or hate..." Mithos stood up and looked up to the sky. "This world does need to have bad things to happen in order for the good things that come by to be fully understood and cherished more. I will not make the same mistake twice. I will not betray this world and my friends again. I will help you guys make this world a better place. I do not feel alone, like how I apparently was in the past." Mithos slowly looked towards Lloyd and smiled more. "Once you're born in this world, you deserve to live in it, no matter what race you are."

Genis eyes widen and he smiled widely while looking up at Mithos. It was interesting that Mithos is almost the same as Lloyd, and Genis noted this by saying. "That last sentence 'Once you're born in this world, you deserve to live in it, no matter what race you are', is the same quote that Lloyd uses sometimes."

"Yes, I do use that quote every now and then, heh." Lloyd said as he stood up to walk to Mithos. He lightly placed his hand upon blonde boy's shoulder and he smiled to him. Mithos then lightly smiled back and placed one hand upon Lloyd's shoulder and the other upon Genis's shoulder when he stood up as well.

"I feel bad for killing one of the members of Cruxis..." Mithos's smile disappeared as he moved his hands from Genis's and Lloyd's shoulders. He turned around and sighed. "Pronyma..."

Genis and Lloyd looked at each other for a second before looking towards the back side of Mithos.

Genis then asked. "Why do you feel sorry for killing her? She was evil."

"No... In the beginning, she wasn't. I remember twisting her mind, breaking her down physically and mentally before rebuilding her back up to be loyal to me. That's why when I mention in my dream that I killed Pronyma... I was even more sad.." Mithos let out a depressed sigh before turning back to look at Genis and Lloyd directly.

"Well, if you can remember, mind telling us the history between you and Pronyma?" Genis asked.

Mithos nodded slowly and he tried to reach his hand out to Genis's head, attempting to ruffle up his hair a bit, but he was hit by beam of light from his right side. He flew off the sandy ground and landed onto his face about ten feet from Genis and Lloyd. Genis then turned to where the beam of light came from and saw Kratos, Yuan, and everyone else on top of a sand hill about one hundred feet away.

"Stay away from my Genis, Mithos!" Raine said loudly as the group was rushing towards Genis, Lloyd and Mithos.


	6. A bond with Abyssion

"R-Raine?!" Genis said in a shocking tone. He was first surprised at how everyone found them but then he turned his attention to Mithos. "Mithos!" He ran to Mithos, who was slowly sitting up on the sandy ground.

Lloyd was looking at the group nearing to them and tensed up. "Guys wait! Don't do this!" Lloyd, of course, didn't want to fight his friends, but will defend Mithos in order for him to have a chance to do good in the world.

Kratos stopped and so did the rest of the group behind him. His red wine eyes looking at his son's eyes, studying for a second before saying. "Lloyd, move out of the way. I am sorry it ha-"

Kratos was interrupted by Lloyd. "No! It's not going to be this way. You guys won't give Mithos a chance to make up for what he did in the past! Kratos, he's your student, do you really want to kill him right now?!"

Kratos paused, his hand still on the hilt of his sword.

Lloyd then looked to Yuan. "Yuan, do you think this is what Martel wants?... Does she want to watch you, Kratos and everyone else kill her little brother, Mithos, for he hasn't done anything to deserve to die in his current life? For when he just told me and Genis that he will atone for all the bad things he has done?!"

Colette then ran from the group and stood beside Lloyd. "I also believe that Mithos is a good guy now. I mean... if he was still evil, he would had most likely taken Genis some where to make him be on his side and killed Lloyd already, but as you can see, they are still here.. Please, give Mithos a chance." Colette looked at everyone while they just stood there.

Mithos was holding his side, which was bleeding and Genis's eyes widen. "Mithos, you're bleeding!"

Everyone looked back at Mithos upon hearing Genis. Mithos's huffs sounded very stressed as the wound was getting worse already.

Lloyd looked back at Raine. "Raine, please heal him!"

Raine hesitated and slightly stepped back. She was split as to either help Mithos or kill him right then and there.

Yuan then spoke up. "Lloyd, at the Stone Dias, the slab had the same type of mana energy that Mithos had before... A mana that is powerful yet devoid of caring for others. I believe that the Dias brought Mithos to Asgard after he was revived by whatever revived him in the first place."

"So you automatically assumed that he's still evil?! That's not right what so ever!" Lloyd yelled out as he pulled out his two swords. Ready to defend Mithos.

Colette then stepped in between the group and Lloyd before saying to Kratos. "Kratos.. I understand that you think that there's a chance that Mithos is still evil, but if you just feel out from your heart instead of your mind all the time.. then you will feel a different Mithos right now.. This Mithos isn't the same one from the past... This Mithos, I believe, is the same Mithos you know and love from the Great Kharlan war."

Kratos was looking down at Colette, his hand still at the hilt of his sword as Genis then yelled out. "Raine! Please heal Mithos! He's going to die!"

* * *

Mithos then fainted onto the sandy ground. In his mind. he was seeing a man in the void of darkness. Mithos looked at his surroundings, though it was nothing but darkness. When he looked forward once more, he saw the male's body in front of his face and then stumbled back quickly. "A-Ahh! Who are you?!" Mithos ask loudly.

Man smirked down at Mithos and lightly said. "I am Abyssion and I am part of the reason why you're alive." Abyssion then slowly moved his hand towards Mithos. His hand was glowing a dark red mana.

Mithos quickly moved from Abyssion and then took his fight stance, slightly wincing from the wound on the right side of his body before saying. "I-I heard of you before! You wanted the Devil's arms during the Great Kharlan War so you can be the Dark Lord Nebilim... But Devil's arms were move to a location where no one can find it."

Abyssion lightly nodded and closed his eyes. "Yes, that is true, but Lloyd and his friends did find the Devil's arms and gave them to me, hehe. I...of course lost to them but they have forgotten that the Devil's arms has a curse."

"What c-curse?" Mithos asked, still being in his fighting stance.

Abyssion disappeared out of Mithos's sight and Mithos looked around quickly, trying to find him. Then the blonde boy felt his body suddendly paralyzed from the neck down and gasped.

Abyssion appeared behind Mithos. With a sly chuckle, the male said. "You're the one who was the first to put your hands upon the Devil's arms and moved it to a place so no one can find it. You were afraid that if anyone had the Devil's arms, then they would be too strong to stop. But you didn't know if had a curse within it. As soon as you touched it, a curse was laid upon you at the time of the Great Kharlan war."

Mithos tried to move at this point but couldn't. Abyssion then placed his right hand upon Mithos's right shoulder while still speaking. "The curse is that when you touched it, Nebilim went into your mind and soul without you noticing, but couldn't really take control over you due to the fact you were very strong minded. So Nebilim waited for the Devil's arms to be taken over by someone who was trying to fully use them and who was weak mind. The man who was taken over by Nebilim name was I, Abyssion, of course. Lloyd and his friends helped me get the Devil's arms and use them. But this was after you were killed by Lloyd and his friends while Nebilim was still in your mind."

Abyssion then appeared in front Mithos and had his right hand deeply inside of the wound Mithos got from Raine. Screaming in agonizing pain, Mithos tilted his head back sharply. His hands shook quickly and he huffed after screaming.

Abyssion said in a somewhat mocking tone of voice. "Right before Lloyd cut your Cruxis Crystal into pieces, Nebilim embedded himself inside of it. Oh, and then Genis had held onto the pieces of your Cruxis Crystal for quite a while, until he and his friends defeated me, that's when he gave the pieces to Lloyd to bury them."

Mithos slowly tilted his head forward to look at Abyssion while trembling from the sheer pain before asking. "That d-doesn't truly explain how I am a-alive with you in my h-head if I died by Lloyd and his friends."

With that, Abyssion sunk his hand deeper in Mithos's wound, which Mithos screamed out again from the increased pain.

"Haha, that, I don't even know, but even if I did, I wouldn't tell you. Now then, it is time for you to leave this body and let me take control over it!" Abyssion demanded this.

"N-No! I will not l-let you hurt me and my f-friends!" Mithos yelled back and quickly broke out of the paralyzing spell that he was in. He quickly gripped Abyssion's arm and moved his hand from the wound. "Now, be gone, Abyssion!" Mithos said loudly as a bright light surrounded his body and spread outwards, pushing Abyssion back until he couldn't had been seen to Mithos's eyes.

* * *

Mithos than woke up from his nightmare. Sweating and laying on a bed, he sat up quickly and looked to the side. Since he was sweating so much, his blond bangs were hanging lower than normal and covered his eyes mostly. He could see the sun rising over the horizon through the window. Huffing and panting just a bit, he tried to get out of the bed but he groaned in pain as his right side was hurting. He took his shirt off and looked at the wound that was covered up with bandages.

"W-Where is everyone?" Mithos asked himself as he forced his way off the bed and tried his best to ignore the pain that his wound was still causing. He went up to the door and slowly opened it. He looked down and to the left side he saw Genis sitting there sleeping.

"Genis..?" Mithos said in a soft tone. Genis kept sleeping and Mithos slowly kneel to say. "Genis" once more time but a little louder. Just then, Genis opened his eyes quickly and turned to look at Mithos. He had a worried looked upon his face.

"Mithos, you s-shouldn't be out of bed! You need to rest." Genis looked at the wound upon Mithos's right side of his body. The bandages on the wound were of course red from the blood.

"Yeah I k-know but... w-what happened after I passed out and I have to tell everyone what I saw in my head after I did passed out" Mithos said while looking down.

Genis lightly smiled. "Well, Colette was able to talk to Kratos and everyone else to not kill you and give you a chance. We carried you to Triet and right now we're in the hotel."

Mithos looked back at Genis and softly smiled. "Hehe, good. I am glad I have been granted a chance to prove to everyone that I am a good guy right now and forever will be."

Genis nodded and then asked/ "Mithos, what did you see in your head..?"

Mithos's smiled slowly disappeared and looked more serious. "I saw... Abyssion."

"You saw Abyssion?! How did you see him? Me and the others killed him a while back, Mithos." Genis exclaimed to his half elf friend.

Mithos then calmly asked. "I will explain everything I saw in my dream to everyone. By the way, where is everyone?"

"Well Lloyd, Colette, Kratos, and Yuan is in the next room. Everyone else went out to get food and new weapons." Genis then looked down a bit. "It's going to be kind of awkward talking to everyone except Lloyd, h-huh..?"

Mithos saw Genis's concerned facial expression and lightly nodded. "Yes... It will be but they need to know about this as soon as possible."

"You are right. Lets go into Lloyd's room and wait for everyone else to return." Genis said as he slowly stood up.

Mithos nodded and stood up, but very slowly and groaned as his right hand was upon his wound on the right side of his body. He gave Genis a reassuring smile that he is okay. They both soon walked to the other room where Lloyd, Colette, Kratos, and Yuan were in.

* * *

Outside of the Triet hotel, Raine and everyone else were at the outside food market, buying food, new weapons, etc. After they were done, they began to walk towards the hotel before Marta softly said. "Guys, I have been thinking about what Colette said."

Raine was the first to turn around and look back at Marta and asked. "What do you mean?"

"What she said to Kratos when we found Mithos... 'If you feel out from your heart instead of your mind all the time, then you will feel a different Mithos'. I think we all have assumed to quickly about Mithos... You guys have been going at him based off what he's done to you in the past, while me and Emil judged his cover without reading him all the way... We all have been going at this with only our minds, not our hearts guys.."

Regal slowly looked down the ground, so did Presea, Sheena, Raine, and Emil.

Zelos slowly placed his hands at the back of his head before saying. "That is true, beautiful maiden of Ratatosk. Though I did notice I can't shake off this evil aura I sense from him when he's around me... At first, I thought it was only him, that's why I didn't trust him. But after he fainted, I still felt that aura coming off him, and the aura was much stronger and different then from Mithos's aura in the past."

"I have also sensed this for quite while as well." Raine then cupped her left hand upon her chin and thought for a bit. "This mana emitting out of Mithos is not even close to the past Mithos. The mana is cold, heartless, and cruel. It's almost the same as when Mithos was willing to destroy the world in order to be with Martel at the moment. Before that moment though, Mithos's mana was never that cold."

"What do you think it could be?" Regal asked. He was slightly tensed at this point.

"I don't know, but I now know this Mithos's natural mana is mostly clean and pure. Only tainted by this dark mana. Yet... It feels so familiar.. Like I have felt it more personally in the past. It's seems to be a Yin and Yang effect going on with Mithos's mana." Raine lightly sighed. It was puzzling to her of course.

"Now that you think about it.. It does feel like we did experience it first hand before. I just don't remember where or when." Presea, of course, said this in a near emotionless tone of voice.

"If you can take a guess, what do you guys think it could be?" Emil asked. Slightly concerned.

"Hm...Not sure, dude. Really, it could be anything. Though, I now feel it most likely has something to do with Mithos being revived and all." Zelos said as he continued walking to the hotel. Everyone else followed behind him and were thinking to themselves.

* * *

Back inside of the hotel and in the room. Mithos explained to everyone that they must wait for the others to come back so he can portray what he saw in his dream. In the mean time, everyone kept quite. Mithos was sitting on one of the beds. Genis was sitting on a different bed in the room. Lloyd was looking out the window with Colette while Yuan was leaning upon the wall near the door.

Kratos slowly made his way to Mithos and lightly asked. "May I sit down and.. talk to you, Mithos?"

Mithos looked up at Kratos in a hesitant manner before lightly nodding. He scooted to the foot end to the bed so Kratos could sit.

Kratos sat down onto bed and looked towards Mithos. He was thinking of how to apologize.

Mithos smiled a bit, already knowing that Kratos was trying to think of a way to say sorry. He knew it was hard for Kratos to apologize. With that, Mithos turned to Kratos to look directly at him and nodded. "I forgive you Kratos. I understand you felt like I was going insane again after my freak out in Asgard. But I only ask of you to believe in me when I say I won't do anything to hurt you and this world. That I am the Mithos you know and love even before the Great Kharlan war, when we were just simply trying to make the world a better place."

Mithos kept smiling at Kratos and Kratos turned away, having his head tilted down, so he can hide his slight smile. Yuan was watching across the room and had a smile upon his face to.

"Just.. I guess I had to listen to someone tell me how I was thinking was wrong at the time. I am sure that person knows who I am talking about." Kratos said. Colette slightly smiled as she had her arm at the back Lloyd's shoulders and her head upon his neck indirectly. Kratos continued to speak. "I haven't smiled for quite a while. It's good to have you back Mithos. Don't want to lose you again, kid." Kratos looked back at Mithos, still having the smile on his face.

Mithos turn his head to looked at Yuan. In which Yuan turned his head to the side. His blue hair covering the side of his face and his smile. Mithos chuckled and asked. "Yuan, why not come here to and tell me you're sorry? I know you want to." Mithos had a slight mocking tone when saying that, but didn't mean no harm.

Yuan walked over to where Kratos and Mithos was sitting. Genis was watching the three becoming close friends once again, in which he smiled.

Yuan then lightly said. "I am sorry Mithos for doubting your ability to be good again. I guess I was to only thinking from my mind and not feeling out from my heart. Do you forgive me?"

Mithos nodded as he sat up more upon the bed. "I forgive you, Yuan, you dork." Mithos chuckled more at saying that. In which Yuan and Kratos lightly chuckled as well.

Mithos then changed the subject, "Yuan, I remembered before I passed out that you mentioned something about the Stone Dias. I wish for you to talk about it after I explain what I saw in my dream when the whole group is together, okay?"

Yuan lightly nodded. Mithos then looked at his Cruxis Crystal, "So these are... Cruxis Crystals... And I made them?"

"Well in a way. You made up the concept and had Elves do most of the work in creating them in Derris Kharlan. It's basically the evolved form of Exspheres, and instead of a Key Crest to control it, you made the Elves make a Rune crest." Kratos said as he looked more directly at Mithos's cracked, dark green Cruxis Crystal. He noted that the red tint from before had subsided.

Mithos nodded but slightly frowned, "I still can't... believe I did so many h-horrible things in the past. I must make up for the pain and suffering I have done to this world. I swear I will atone for it!" Mithos said passionately as he hit his fist to the bed slightly hard but winced in pain from his body movement caused his wound start to hurt again.

"Don't move so much, Mithos, your wound hasn't fully healed." Yuan said, being slightly concerned.

Mithos lightly nodded and relaxed himself. He then asked. "Well... I been wondering why my Cruxis Crystal is cracked and what not. I mean... a cracked Cruxis Crystal is the same as having none right?" Mithos then looked towards Yuan.

"That is true, though I can sense you still have your powers and some other... different kind of mana emissions coming out of you, which has been on my mind ever since we found you in Triet. None of us are sure how all of this is happening yet still." Yuan lightly sighed and looked to the side.

"We're going to need to talk to Origin, Ratatosk, and see if the Great Kharlan tree and the Eternal sword has to do with any of this." Kratos said while everyone in the room was listening to their conversation this whole time.

Just then, the rest of the group walked into the room and closed to the door behind them. Raine was looking at Mithos directly. Mithos noticed this and smiled at her. Raine blinked a few times and smiled back.

Just then, Mithos slowly stood up from the bed and got to the middle of the room. Everyone were either sitting on a chair, or a bed, or leaning on a wall. Mithos cleared his throat. "Okay everyone. I have two things I need to talk to you guys about. I want to tell everyone what I saw in my dream after I faint in the Triet desert and I want to let everyone know who Pronyma truly was before I twisted her mind. I feel that I have to tell you guys about her because I feel bad for killing her in cold blood."

Everyone's eyes was at Mithos. Mithos slowly looked towards Genis, who nodded to him and smiled kindly. Mithos then looked down to the ground. "I will start with Pronyma. I met Pronyma when I..."


	7. Pronyma's past

"I first met Pronyma about one hundred years after I split the world into two." Mithos slowly closed his eyes, trying to remember exactly what happen.

* * *

In a flashback, Mithos was walking through the Gaoracchia forest before the forest itself was over populated by monstrous trees and creatures. He was contemplating on what to do about Derris Kharlan and also if he should hold his pact with Origin. The boy was struggling to figure out if the either the world or his sister, Martel, was more important. Just then, he bumped into a girl with green hair and stumbled back.

"Hey, watch where you g-! … Hm?" The girl's appearance caught Mithos off guard.

"Why don't you watch where you going huh?!" The girl shouted loudly back at Mithos. She was about eight years old, wearing a slightly dirty white shirt and black shorts. She puffed out her cheeks a bit while looking up at Mithos.

Mithos then lightly asked. "Are you a half elf?"

"...Y-Yeah, so what of it?" The girl tensed up a bit, fearing that Mithos was a human and about to attack her.

Mithos smiled. "Don't worry, I am not going to hurt you or anything. I'm a half elf to. What are you doing walking around here all alone?"

The girl hesitated on speaking,"...I uh... I w-walk here alone sometimes to clear my nerves.."

"Sometimes? Are you dealing with some problems?" Mithos asked. The girl lightly nodded. Mithos then softly said. "I am Mithos Yggdrasill. What is your name?

"My n-name is Pronyma..." The girl slowly clutched the rim of her white shirt just.

"No last name?" Mithos tilted his head to the side as Pronyma slowly shook her head. Mithos than asked once again. "What problems are you dealing with to make you want to walk here all alone?"

Pronyma slowly looked to the side and sighed. "My foster parents hate me... They abuse me and call me names... Same as for the village I s-staying in. Wait, you said your name Mithos? Like... M-Mithos the hero?...Are you Mithos the hero?"

Mithos lightly nodded. "Yes. I am. Do you mind taking me to the village you're staying in?"

"But they d-don't like half elves. I a-am only lucky to stay there because I'm s-still small, but I know I will be kicked out of there when I a-am old enough." Pronyma looked up at Mithos when saying that.

"It's quite alright. I think I can make them treat you better, Pronyma." Mithos then looked forward. "Please take me to your village."

Pronyma slowly nodded, turned around, and began to walk back from where she came from. During the walk, Pronyma asked. "Mithos, how did you exactly become a hero?"

"I stopped a great war from destroying the world with the help my companions." Mithos said in a low tone.

Pronyma tilted her head a bit. "How so?"

"Too long to explain. Is that your village behind that rock over there?" Mithos asked and Pronyma nodded.

When they was about to enter the village, they was stopped by two human guards. One of the guards said. "We don't need anymore filthy half elves here! She can come in but you must go away!"

"I am Pronyma's friend. I wish to come into the village." Mithos asked calmly, trying not to show his hatred towards humans. His hands clutched into tight fists.

"I said go away!" The guard tried to push Mithos back with his sword, but Mithos grabbed the sword before it touched his chest and smirked widely. He then pulled the sword towards himself and the human along. He dropped the sword and grabbed the guard by the neck with one arm while Pronyma gasped and put her hands upon her mouth. The other guard then rushed towards Mithos, in which Mithos tossed the guard onto the other guard, making them fly back from him and land onto the ground inside of the village. Mithos then proceeded to send two orbs of mana to the two guards, making their bodies burst into flames.

"W-Why di-..." Pronyma looked towards the humans who was staring at Mithos for a few seconds before running and screaming.

Mithos then walked forward while asking. "Where is your foster parents' house?"

"I c-can't tell you. I don't want you to k-kill them to!" Pronyma stood there at the entrance of the village and Mithos stopped in his tracks before calmly saying, "You wish to protect the humans who abuse you? Do you care for this villages' occupants who hates you and wish you was dead secretly? Hell, they even left you wonder off into the woods with not even a guard protecting you."

Pronyma slowly looked down and hesitantly said. "...T-The fifth house to the r-right."

Mithos then turned around, grabbed Pronyma by her hand, and walked with her to the house. Inside of the house, the foster father was figuring out why everyone was running and screaming out side. The foster mother was looking out of the window with Pronyma's older foster brother, when all of the sudden their door flew off the hinges and landed on the opposite side of the living room. All three occupants inside looked at Mithos and Pronyma.

"So here you are... Doesn't seem like you was worried about your daughter wondering off into the woods all alone." Mithos said angrily.

"Look dad, he's a half elf to." Said the boy who was Pronyma's foster brother. His name was Kiro. He was nineteen years old.

"I bet you're the reason why everyone is running and screaming. It's bad enough that this village has to deal with one half elf! And she's not my daughter, I only took her in because she can do most of the labor in the house. I don't care for her!" The foster father, named Ken, said loudly. He was thirty five years old

Mithos's right eye twitched slightly as he screamed back. "How dare you use her like that! She may not be blood related and is a different race, but she deserves to be treated better than that!"

"Please, she's the reason why so many bad things has happened to this once peaceful village. The floods, the dry outs, etc. It's all her fault." The foster mother, named Yui, said. She was thirty three years old.

Pronyma was slightly trembling as she stood behind Mithos. Mithos yelled back. "That's not her fault! It's called natural disasters, you damn idiots!"

"Don't talk to my parents like that, you half elf filth!" Kiro said in defense of his mother and father.

"M-Mithos... lets just g-go please, before the rest of the guards come here and k-kill us." Pronyma was tugging on Mithos's shirt.

Mithos slowly looked down and softly asked. "Pronyma... Do you care for these humans..?"

Pronyma tried to speak out."I u-uhhh... well I m-mean... I"

Mithos's eyes went crazed and an evil smirk appeared upon his face. "You don't care for them. Good!" Mithos then appeared in front of Ken first, his right hand quickly went through the male's stomach. In which Ken screamed out in pain and coughed up blood. Mithos laughed loudly.

"Dad! Pronyma, you brought this demon here! You're nothing but trouble!" Kiro said angrily at Pronyma, who was just standing there, watching with complete shock and fear in her eyes.

"G-Go to hell, de-" Before Ken could even finish his last word, a beam of light shot out of Mithos's right arm, the light obliterated the male in seconds and also left a huge hole in the house's ceiling. Mithos then slowly turned to look directly at Kiro and Yui. Kiro then pulled out a knife from his back pocket and charged at Mithos.

"Haha, you humans are the scum of the world!" Mithos said as he disappeared from Kiros' sight and appeared behind the young male. His blade came into existent from a beam of light and Mithos proceeded to slash repeated at the male's back in rapid speed. Ripping the shirt and pieces of skin from Kiro's back, which was heavily bleeding right now. Kiro screamed from the sheer pain and fell upon his knees. Pronyma covered her eyes and started to cry. Just then, Mithos left foot came forward and kicked at Kiro's back hard, thus breaking Kiro's spine in half and sending Kiro through the wall in front of him. Kiro landed about ten feet from the house outside. Kiro's eyes were completely white, indicating that he is dead.

"No! You k-killed my husband and son! You monster!" Yui said loudly as she was crying.

"Don't worry, you'll see them again in hell!" Mithos appeared in front of the woman, grabbing her by the throat with both of his hands, and proceeded to choke her while he still had the evil smirk and crazed eyes. Yui was kicking and making choking noises as her hands gripped at Mithos's wrists. Her face was red at first. Pronyma shut her eye lids closed while covering her ears with her hands, trying not to hear Yui. After a while, Yui's face was blue and she'd stopped moving. Her neck was broken in five places and her body went limb. Mithos then quickly threw Yui through the hole that was made by Kiro's body.

Mithos slowly walked towards Pronyma and looked down at her. "Dry your tears. You did not care for them, so there's no reason to cry for them."

Pronyma then slowly looked up at Mithos. Her heart was pounding very fast. She was very confused as to how such a being like Mithos could even be called a hero after what she just saw. Outside of the house, the rest of the villages' guards was there.

"Come out half elves! Do one good thing in your miserable lives and come face your punishment!" Said the mayor of the village in a demanding voice.

Pronyma turned around and saw about one hundred guards waiting for her and Mithos to come out of the house. Just then, Mithos walked out of the house first and Pronyma soon followed behind him. Mithos's eyes had a calm expression while Pronyma was trembling and had a feared expression.

"By the rights invested in me and by how you killed five innocent people. I hear by place judgment on you, boy, and Pronyma. The judgment will be death by execution squad." The old mayor said as he then raised his right hand up, the guard's weapons were that of a rod with a purple ball in front. Soon, the purple ball was surrounded with mana.

Mithos lightly chuckled. "You have the right to place judgment, hm?" Soon, the clouds above the village turned dark and Mithos yelled out, "Prism sword!" The ground under the guards and the mayor turned into different colors and they couldn't move at that point.

The mayor then said with a struggle in his voice. "W-what the hell is t-this?!"

Out of nowhere, five large, holy like swords came from the darken skies and slammed down onto the guards and the mayor, with an even larger holy sword slamming right into the middle. Then a huge, white explosion emitted out of the end of the attack, which would make Pronyma cover her eyes with her small hands in order not to be blinded by the intense light. The shock wave would blew away the houses near by the attack but not Mithos nor Pronyma.

After then explosion subsided, there was huge crater where the guards and mayor use to be. Mithos slowly turned around and looked down at Pronyma as she was still having her eyes covered. Mithos then softly requested."Please uncover your eyes, Pronyma. They are gone."

"You k-killed them..." Pronyma said as she sniffled and slowly moved her small hands from her eyes. She looked up at Mithos.

"They was going to kill us anyways, and none of them cared for you. Humans and elves are selfish beings who cast prejudice on us half elves for no reason." Mithos said as he thought up of something, "Have you ever heard of Derris Kharlan?"

Pronyma slowly nodded. "I h-heard about it in stories, though I don't believe such a place actually exists."

Mithos smirked. "It exists and I am going to be ruler over it all as soon as I am able to link this world to it by creating a thing call the Tower of Salvation."

"T-Tower of Salvation? What is your goal r-really Mithos?" Pronyma asked. Mithos went silent and looked up at the clearing sky. He was think about his sister and a plan to revive her with the aid of Origin, the summon spirits, and the Great Seed.

"M-Mithos..?" Pronyma blinked a few times and Mithos looked back down at her again.

"I will tell you my goal later on, and only if you prove yourself that you can be loyal to me in order to help me achieve my goal." Mithos simply said.

Pronyma softly asked. "How d-do I prove something like that?"

"Simple, you must first hate humans and half elves. If you can show that, then I will train you under my wing." Mithos slowly placed his hands behind his back.

"B-But I d-don't h-ha-" Pronyma saw Mithos's facial expression change from calm to angered in a split second.

"You love the beings who treat you like crap?! Who don't care about what happens to you?! The beings who make you an outcast and make you feel alone?! You wish to live along side with such discriminating humans and elves that won't look past your race and treat you fairly?!" Mithos said loudly, interrupting Pronyma.

Pronyma flinched at Mithos yelling at her, which only angered the blonde boy even more. "Stop with the flinching and being scared! If you show weakness, then humans and elves will take advantage of you Pronyma. Stand tall as a half elf." Mithos requested this.

Pronyma slowly stood up straight but trembled. She hesitantly asked. "W-Well what made you hate h-humans and elves this much, M-Mithos?"

"They took someone away from me... Well the humans did really. I can't forgive them... as for the elves, I am sick and tired of them discriminating on us half breed. I have a plan to change all of that." Mithos said as he moved his right hand to Pronyma slowly and had a smile upon his face, "Take my hand, and we shall go to Derris Kharlan."

Pronyma looked at the blonde boy's hand and hesitantly placed her small right hand upon boy's hand. Soon, both of them appeared to Welgaia, the holy city in Derris Kharlan, which houses a few angels at the time and is the new base for Cruxis. This was the point where Mithos began training Pronyma with the aid of Kratos and Yuan.

* * *

Back to current times, the whole group except Kratos, Yuan, and Mithos had wide eyes and was shocked about how Pronyma came to be. Mithos continued to speak, "I trained her for about three years. During that time, I broke her down physically first by fighting her around the clock with little breaks... So that I can get to her mentally. When I was able to... I filled her mind with hatred of humans and elves. She, of course, kept trying to tell me it was wrong hate them as much as they hate us. Saying that they can change.."

Mithos's hands clutched into tight fists, his face was slightly red as he held back on being too emotional. "But I filled her head with lies... eventually, her mind broke and she began to believe what I was telling her. After her training was done, she wasn't the innocent and caring eight year old... She was a cold, heartless but loyal eleven year old who hated humans and elves just as much as I use to. I then gave her one final test to see if she was actually loyal to me and to let me know if she deserved to have a Cruxis Crystal."

"What was the final test, Mithos...?" Genis asked in a nervous toned of voice.

Mithos slowly looked towards Genis and said. "..The final test was that she needed to kill her biological parents for abandoning her."

Colette gasped loudly and put her hands upon her mouth in horror from what she just heard. Yuan looked to the side and sighed. Lloyd slightly shook his head while Genis just sat there on the bed, frozen and he had a look of disbelieve.

Mithos continued on. "Not only did she kill her parents, she destroyed the entire city that her parents was living in. The evil in her heart contribute to her having darkness like powers and abilities. After that, I replaced the Exsphere she was given, with a Cruxis Crystal. She pledged the be loyal to me always and never question my actions or motives. I figured after about three hundred years of her serving me, she began to show feelings towards me, though I know at the time I didn't care for that... I only cared for my sister."

Mithos then slowly looked down to the ground and sighed. His hands relaxed and Kratos got up from the bed he was sitting on and slowly placed his hand upon Mithos's shoulder, he calmly said. "Do you wish to make a burial in Pronyma's memory and name when we reached this forgotten village in our journey?"

Mithos lightly nodded while Genis got up from the bed and placed his hand upon Mithos's other shoulder.

Zelos then quietly said."Quite sad how one being can twist up another person's mind and lead them to the wrong path."

Mithos closed his eyes. "I am sorry that I did all of that to Pronyma. If I could, I would change everything I did in the past and make Pronyma a better person. I feel as though Pronyma deserves a second chance... Not me."

"Don't say that, Mithos. You are here now, and you showing you still have feelings for Pronyma proves that you do care for her enough to feel sad for what you did to her in the past. I am sure she will forgive you." Genis lightly said, attempting to make Mithos feel a little better.


	8. Origin's explanation

"You saw Abyssion?! Impossible, we killed him." Sheena exclaimed quickly

Genis then said. "Yeah, and I destroyed the Necronomicon afterwards. Then we placed the pieces back to their original spots."

"Wait, hold on. Who is Abyssion?" Marta asked.

Coffee than spoke up in Ratatosk's voice. "Abyssion was a person who wanted to acquire ultimate evil power through a series of weapons that contribute to a title called the Devil's arms."

Everyone then looked towards the wolf as it continued to speak. "Abyssion tricked Lloyd and the group in getting him the Devil's arms about a month after they defeated Mithos. Each weapon looks exactly the same as Lloyd's and his friends weapons, though in a darker version. Abyssion wanted a demon named Nebilim to be revived inside of his body so he can take over the world of Aselia."

"Who or what is Nebilim, Ratatosk?" Emil asked while he leaned off the wall.

"Nebilim is the ruler of a world called Neflheim, the underworld which use to existed along side with the world of Aselia. At the time, he ruled both Neflheim and Aselia before Derris Kharlan made it's way to the world of Aselia. I sealed most that evil realm inside of a book called the Necronomicon, while the rest lives at the shadow of Aselia; like two sides of a coin. After Abyssion got all the weapons, he used Necronomicon along side the Devil's arms to revive the Dark Lord Nebilim inside of his body." Coffee explained.

"Yes, and we defeated him. So how is he in Mithos's head?" Lloyd was slightly on edge when asking.

Coffee looked towards Lloyd. "I have spoken with Origin during Mithos explaining his history with Pronyma. He might knows Mithos is alive and he's telling me right now he might also know why Abyssion is inside of Mithos's head, but we need to know what", Coffee looked towards Mithos, "Abyssion told you, Mithos."

Mithos nodded and looked down a bit as he started to explain. "I will briefly explain how I heard of Abyssion. I heard of him during the Great Kharlan war. Rumors had it at the time that he was was seeking the weapons of the Devil's arms. So I found all of the weapons before he did and place them in secret locations so no one could find them. Now then, when I passed out in the Triet desert, he told me that the Devil's arms are cursed and that I was cursed when touching them. My curse was that Nebilim went inside of my mind and attempted to take over my body but I was too strong minded to be effected. So Nebilim waited for someone else to acquire the Devil's arms. The person's name was Abyssion."

Mithos then looked towards Lloyd. "As soon as you guys killed me and destroyed my Cruxis Crystal, Nebilim escaped my mind and went into my Cruxis Crystal, in which Genis held onto some of the pieces for a while before giving it to you, Lloyd. Though Abyssion didn't tell me how exactly I am alive and why he's in my head because he didn't even know."

"Lloyd, where did you bury the pieces of Mithos's old Cruxis Crystal?" Coffee asked while looking at Lloyd now.

"I buried them next to the Yggdrasill tree." Lloyd answered.

"I see, so I was right. You guys need to go to Origin's seal to speak with him now, he will fully explain how you, Mithos, are alive with Abyssion in your head. I can't stay in this body for too long, so I can't simply tell you myself right now."

Coffee then looked back at Mithos. "Just know, Mithos, you being alive again has to do with your Cruxis Crystal, Nebilim, the Great tree, the Eternal sword, the summon spirits, the Stone Dias, me, and Origin himself. Make haste." Coffee said lastly before Ratatosk's spirit left the wolf's body.

"Woah... this is pretty crazy, huh guys?" Zelos said while slightly laughing nervously.

"I agree. I am assuming that this demon named Nebilim is trying to reclaim the world of Aselia through Mithos's mind and body." Regal said in a serious tone.

"Dammit Abyssion, just can't leave well enough alone!" Lloyd said angrily. His left hand clutched into a tight fist as he looked down.

"Mithos, did Abyssion did anything to you while he was talking to you in your dream?" Presea asked.

"Well.. he had his hand deep inside of this wound, that's all." Mithos said.

"Then that's why Raines' healing artes wasn't working. Abyssion must had put his mana into your wound, so you couldn't heal through heal artes. No wonder I kept sensing dark mana concentrated on your wound, Mithos" Yuan said as Mithos looked towards him.

"Lets get going everyone. I am curious as to how all of this is happening." Raine said in an excited tone of voice while leaving the hotel room. Everyone sighed at Raine for being excited from this. They soon followed behind her.

Genis helped Mithos off the bed and heard him sigh in a more depressed tone. Genis asked. "Mithos, are you okay?"

"I been nothing but trouble to you guys ever since I was revived and now I have an evil spirit inside of my head... I don't know what's going to happen next but I am scared that I might hurt you and everyone else again.." Mithos then looked down at Genis for a second and then sighed once more while everyone else had already left the room.

Genis smiled. "I know that all of this is a lot to take in and handle, but you're strong Mithos. And if you feel like you're losing your way, just know we are all here for you and will help you. Don't lose hope in yourself and us."

* * *

Mithos smiled and nodded. Both him and Genis then left room and met up with everyone else outside. Before they took off to go meet Origin, the ground started to shake violently.

"W-Woah! What's with this shaking?!" Zelos fell onto his rear as everyone else was struggling to stand up right.

"I d-don't know but I just felt a sudden s-surge of pure dark mana sweep across the land." Genis exclaimed while he fell onto his knees.

Mithos asked. "Genis a-are you okay?"

Genis lightly nodded and the Earthquake subsided.

Sheena then froze for a second before saying. "Guys... I can't feel the summon spirits within me anymore.."

Yuan then looked towards Sheena, "What do you mean? You didn't break your vow or anything, so that's impossible."

Sheena looked down to the ground, her mind struggling to figure out why she couldn't sense the summon spirits within her body.

"I think it has something to do with that dark mana sweep that just happen." Raine exclaimed.

Kratos nodded. "Indeed. We must go now before things get worse.

* * *

Most of of the group got on their Rheairds while Yuan and Kratos had their Cruxis angel wings out and flew along side everyone else.

Half way through their trip, Mithos then asked Genis, Raine and Yuan. "Guys, does the worlds' mana feel... off?"

Yuan slowly crossed his arms over his chest and looked up to the sky, "It does. It feels like pure mana still, though it's a little stale and not really flowing like water."

"It must be a side effect by the slight increase of dark mana in the world." Raine explained. Genis then looked up to the sky and sighed to himself. Just then Mithos got light headed and was starting to hear different types of voices with in his head. To Mithos, the voices was very loud.

"A-Ahhhhh! Shut up! Shut u-up!" Mithos put his hands upon his ears and screamed out loudly. Everyone looked back at Mithos as he was leaning slightly behind Genis on the Rheaird.

"Mithos, what's wrong?!" Genis asked while he watched his close friend screaming and crying from the pain in his head. Soon, Mithos leaned off the Rheaird and was falling towards the ground.

"Mithos!" Lloyd said loudly, but Kratos caught the blonde boy just in time.

"He passed out." Kratos said to everyone. Genis kept looking Mithos closely as Kratos held the boy in his arms.

Lloyd then looked down at his Rheaird handles and slammed his right fist upon it, "Urgh! What is going on?! And why is Mithos suffering again?!"

"Lloyd, calm down. We'll get our questions answered by Origin." Colette said in a soft tone of voice.

Lloyd then slowly relaxed and nodded. "Just... he's has so many things happen to him already. He just can't get a break from it at all.."

Genis then looked forward, all on his mind was how to help Mithos to get pass whatever was exactly happening to him. Kratos looked down at Mithos's Cruxis Crystal, which was now was full red. He blinked a few times but didn't say anything just yet. The group made it into the heart of the Ymir forest, in which they saw Origin already floating off the seal slab.

"We have much to discuss." Origin said in a godly like tone.

Everyone landed onto the ground while Kratos slowly put Mithos onto the ground.

Origin slowly looked down towards Mithos and asked. "What has happened to Mithos?"

"I don't know. He was suddenly screaming and holding his head. Then he passed out." Kratos explained.

Raine asked. "Origin, please explain to us as to what's going on."

Origin slowly nodded and proceeded to say. "I will start off with how Mithos is alive. The reason why Mithos is alive is because the Eternal sword and the Great Tree senses a great evil attempting to take over the world of Aselia."

"Wait, I know the Eternal sword is powerful enough to split the world into two and reunite the worlds, but how is it able to revive someone who's been dead for six months?" Genis asked. He was very curious.

Origin explained. " It is because you, Genis, gave Lloyd pieces of Mithos's cut Cruxis Crystal, in which he buried it in the soil near the Kharlan tree, aka the Yggdrasill tree. Even though you, Lloyd, freed Mithos's soul from his Cruxis Crystal, some past memories of him remain inside of it at all times. So when Lloyd had buried the Cruxis Crystal next to the Great Tree, the tree itself contained some of Mithos's memories."

"So did the tree only help with retaining Mithos's memories?" Raine asked to Origin.

"Only some of his memories, though memories alone is not enough to revive someone. This is where the Eternal sword comes into play. When someone uses the Eternal sword to make a wish, the sword makes a copy of the user's soul, just in case it needs to revive the person back to the realm of the dead in order for that person to save the world from a type of evil that is trying to destroy world or place the world under the rule of evil." Origin said as he crossed his two bottom arms over his built chest.

"So... does that mean the sword has a copy of my soul to?" Lloyd asked somewhat nervously.

"That should be obvious, Lloyd." Genis snickered at Lloyd was being clueless.

"Shut it, Genis." Lloyd demanded.

"Hush you two. Origin is still trying to speak." Raine slapped both Lloyd and Genis on the back of their heads.

Origin continued. "Even with the tree having the memories of Mithos and the Eternal sword being able to revive him back, I needed to be make sure Mithos's memories were reset to it's most purest and kind hearted form."

"The memories of when he was attempting to make the world a better place and trying to stop the Great Kharlan war. So in that way, when he's revived, he won't attempt to destroy the world for the sake of reviving his sister." Kratos said.

"So that's why Mithos didn't know what he done after losing Martel." Marta lightly said.

"Correct. When Mithos's soul, memories, and body were fully made, the Stone Dias took the role of placing Mithos at Asgard in his fourteen year old form. I was also able to give Mithos all of his powers back, the powers he had when he was in Cruxis so he can be a great warrior to aid you all. The Eternal sword can only revive a person one time as well." Origin said.

"So why does the Dias have a dark mana looming inside of it?" Yuan asked.

"It is because when Lloyd buried the pieces of Mithos's cut Cruxis Crystal, Nebilim's soul was also inside of the crystal as well, as Mithos explain to you all earlier. The tree can't choose which memories or soul to keep and leave out, it keeps all memories or souls if a Exsphere or Cruxis Crystal is buried next to it. So when the sword revived Mithos and made his body, it also revived Nebilim, aka Abyssion now, into Mithos's mind since Mithos was the first one to get cursed by touching all of the Devil's arms weapons, and as stated before, the curse Mithos got was Nebilim embedding his soul into Mithos's mind. The dark mana you sensed at the Mausoleum, Yuan, was the mana of Abyssion passing through as well." Origin explained.

"Hm, it's starting to make sense now. So what has happened to the rest of Mithos's Cruxis Crystal? It disappeared from Derris Kharlan." Kratos asked.

Origin then said, "It disappeared due to the fact of Abyssion attempting to make Mithos more weak minded. He combined the remaining pieces of the crystal to make a fake product of a living being. Genis and Mithos saw this being as a little girl. Do you remember Genis?"

"Yes. I've been wondering what happened to that girl." Genis lightly said.

"Abyssion was attempting to break Mithos's mind in order for him to take over his body, get rid of all strongest living beings that can fight him off, so he can rule this world and control all other beings who are too weak to defend for themselves. Sheena, have you noticed that you can't sense none of the summon spirits within you?" Origin then looked towards Sheena.

Sheena lightly nodded. "Y-Yeah, I noticed it after this Earthquake happened earlier."

"It is because the summon spirits are fighting off the world of Neflheim from coming to this world as we speak. In order for them to do this, they need to temporarily break off from you so they can have full concentration in fighting back the demons of Neflheim. The reason why there was Earthquake and an increase of dark mana earlier was because Neflheim almost broke through Ratatosk's seal, but the summon spirits block their advances. The world's mana is being in fluxed by the slowly increasing dark mana. Soon, the summon spirits won't hold back Neflheim, even with me aiding them, and the world of Aselia will be over run by demons and dark lords, the main one being the dark lord Nebilim. Only Mithos is able to stop this by fighting off Abyssion and finding a way to get rid of the curse he's suffering now." Origin then looked up to the clear blue sky.

"Another question that is on my mind is why is Mithos's Cruxis Crystal is red, when earlier it was mostly green?" Kratos asked to Origin.

"It is because when it's green, that's the true Mithos you all are seeing. The more red it gets, the more his either struggling to not be evil once again or Abyssion attempting to break his mind. Right now, Mithos's Cruxis Crystal is red because Abyssion is attempting to break Mithos in order to take over his body. Mithos must remain strong minded at all times. If he slips off for even one second, it can spell doom for everyone in this world." Origin then looked towards Mithos, who was still passed out.

"So... Mithos is fighting for all of us right now?" Genis asked.

Origin slowly nodded. "Inside of his mind, as we speak, he's fighting Abyssion. He must win that fight in order for Neflheim's realm to be temporarily weakened, which will buy you more time to find a way to help Mithos and save the world."

"How did all of this started anyways if Mithos was dead and Nebilim's soul was trapped into Mithos's old Cruxis Crystal? Mithos died six months ago and even with the curse, how is Neflheim able to make signs of itself breaking the seal in the first place, when it's ruler was trapped in the Crystal?" Zelos asked.

Origin explained to Zelos. "Because when you all gathered the Devil's arms as well, a weaker curse was placed on you all, though it's not a series of curses, but one curse all together. I assume that as soon as you all killed Abyssion, the curse activated fully, and the curse must be Neflheim being able to slowly start to break the seal that separates it from Aselia. Which in turn caused all this other madness to take place."

Genis looked towards Mithos and thought to himself. "Be strong. Mithos. Do not give up..."

"Origin, do you know a way to break the curses we are all suffering through?" Lloyd asked with passion.

"No I do not, but Ratatosk told me that if you all gather the Devil's arms weapons once again, and do a certain ritual, you all can teleport to the realm of Neflheim in order to find the way to break the curse you and Mithos are going through. To figure out how to do the ritual, you must acquire the Necronomicon, which has been restored inside of a secrete place within the Gaoracchia forest." Origin said.

"But I destroyed the Necronomicon, how is possible for it to come back?" Genis looked up at Origin more.

"I assume it must be a part of the curse you all are going through. You must hurry though, the more Mithos fights Abyssion, the stronger Abyssion gets and the stronger Neflheim also gets. Do not attempt to move Mithos too much, or even try to heal him as that will mess up his concentration and make it harder for him to fight off Abyssion." Origin then started to fade, "I must return to the battle field with the other summon spirits to aid them. Don't waste too much time on find the Necronomicon and Devil's arms weapons, each second counts. Also, elemental attacks will be weaker over time due to me and the summon spirits using element mana for the fight. Be strong, fellow warriors." Origin then completely disappeared.

"Dang, seems like my super lightning blade won't be as cool or as strong." Zelos said, in which Sheena slapped him on the back of his head.

Lloyd then turned to look at everyone else. "Dammit! It's my fault that this is happening, if I didn't buried the crystal near the tree then-"

Lloyd was then interrupted by Colette, "Lloyd, it's okay. And besides, Mithos is back and he's a good guy. Lets make sure he gets to live his life with happiness, okay?"

Lloyd nodded and slowly sat down next to Mithos, and the others did as well.

Genis then said with anger. "It seems like everything is trying to make Mithos evil again! Why can't he just have the peace he deserves and be happy without things hurting him?!" Genis then slammed his small right fist onto his knee and closed his eyes.

"It will be okay Genis, I believe in Mithos that he will kick Abyssion's ass." Zelos said as he smiled to Genis.

Genis then slowly looked towards him and smiled, "T-Thanks Zelos. I am glad you believe in him to."

Zelos nodded and laid onto his back with his arms behind his head and his eyes closed.

Lloyd looked towards Mithos, wondering how the fight was going. Inside of Mithos's mind, he was fighting Abyssion.


	9. A different way

Inside of Mithos's mind, Abyssion was in the city of Palmacosta, slaughtering men, women and children.

"Stop it, Abyssion!" Mithos demanded as he moved his right hand forward, a beam of light appeared under his hand and a sword of light formed. His hand then gripped the hilt of the sword and ran towards Abyssion.

The dark lord Abyssion turned to face Mithos and smirked, "You really think you can beat me? You're just a pitiful half elf!" Abyssion's hand shot forward, sending a wave of dark mana to Mithos. The wave hit the boy and send him flying through the governor's office double doors, breaking it. Mithos came to a stop when his back crashed into the table. The blonde boy lightly groaned and stood up, slightly huffing. Just then Abyssion appeared in front of Mithos and attempted to kick Mithos back down, but Mithos side stepped and sent his sword forward into Abyssion's rib cage. The sword went deeply inside of Abyssion's rib cage, in which the dark lord quickly screamed in pain and teleported back from Mithos.

"Damn y-you, you're still resisting!" Abyssion said as he appeared in the main court yard outside of the governor's office. Abyssion attempted to try to take the sword out of his rib cage, but his hand was blocked by a light barrier around the sword itself. Mithos slowly walked out of the governor's office. His left hand was upon the wound on the right side of his body. The wound reopened and was bleeding once again.

* * *

Outside of Mithos's mind, Genis noticed the shirt Mithos was wearing had a growing red stain and his eyes widen when saying. "M-Mithos!" Everyone looked towards Mithos and gathered around him.

Raine then said. "It opened back up. I am assuming any damage he gets while fighting Abyssion in his mind carries over to the real world."

"Dammit Abyssion, leave Mithos alone!" Genis yelled out while Emil had his hand upon Genis's shoulder.

"Come on, Mithos. You can beat Abyssion, we believe in you!" Lloyd cheered.

"Yeah, you are much stronger than him. Beat him, Mithos." Colette cheered with Lloyd. Soon, everyone around Mithos's laid out body were cheering him on.

* * *

Inside of Mithos's mind, the voices of his friends cheering him on could be heard with in his dream. The blonde half elf smiled and looked up to the now darkening and red sky. When the sky changed, Mithos looked back towards Abyssion, who was charging to him. Mithos then closed his hands together and said loudly. "The power within my soul, mind, and body! I command the power of light to aid me in my battle!"

Soon, the sword that was still in Abyssion's ribs then glowed brightly like the sun for a split second before imploding in on itself, and then a light explosion emitted from the destroyed sword, which caused Abyssion fly through a solid wall in the Church of Martel. Abyssion body came to a sudden stop when he hit the church's main podium and bowl, which knocked over the bowl of holy water to Abyssion's already damaged and burned body. The holy water was burning him more, causing him to stand up quickly and walk limply out of the Church. He placed his right hand onto the destroyed wall and saw Mithos having his left hand up.

"Indignation judgment!" Mithos screamed out towards Abyssion. The floor under Abyssion's feet turned into different shades of blue and purple with symbols across. Soon, a shock wave spread out, which hit Abyssion upwards from the ground, stunning him. Then a series of lightning bolts transferred down upon Abyssion, making him kneel down to the ground quickly from the damage. Then a giant sword went down on Abyssion, then an inverted shock wave collapsed onto the sword itself and onto Abyssion as well, which caused massive damage upon the dark lord.

* * *

After the move was done, Mithos got onto his right kneel and huffed deeply. The boy saw Abyssion's body slowly disappearing into a dark mist like form and the sky above the city cleared out into a beautiful blue sky. That's when Mithos woke up and sat up quickly, in which he yelled out loudly from his wound still being open.

"Mithos, don't move too much. Your wound has reopened." Presea lightly said.

"R-Right. Ugh..." Mithos slowly laid back onto the soft ground and panted still, in which he looked towards Genis, who was smiling towards him and his face was slightly red from holding back tears of joy.

"I hope I didn't w-worry you guys too much." Mithos said.

Lloyd shook his head. "Not really, I knew you were going to win, heh."

Mithos nodded and then looked towards Kratos, asking. "What did Origin explain to you guys?"

Kratos proceeded to tell Mithos everything he and the group heard and discussed with Origin while Raine began to heal Mithos, all which took around thirty minutes. At the end, Mithos sighed and nodded. "So... where do you think the Necronomicon could be at in the Gaoracchia forest?"

"It must be in the most creepiest part within the forest." Zelos suggested.

"Most likely yes. Since you defeated Abyssion just now, we have time to go to the forest and find the book." Yuan said as he stood up from the ground now.

"We can do that as soon as I make a burial for Pronyma's memory." Mithos lightly said as he sat up after Raine finished healing his wounds.

"We can do that afterwards, Mithos. We don't have much time to waste." Yuan then slowly turned his back as his Cruxis wings came out.

"B-But Yuan.." Mithos whined.

Kratos then said. "Yuan, the burial will not take long. Lets do this with him, as it does mean a lot to him."

Yuan stayed silent and simply nodded. Mithos then looked towards everyone and asked. "Is Yuan mad at me or something?... I know I annoy him sometimes.."

"No, you didn't. He's just on edge, Mithos. We all are." Genis lightly said as he helped Mithos up onto his feet.

* * *

Everyone, except Yuan and Kratos, got on their Rheairds and left the Ymir forest. Kratos and Yuan was flying right beside the group. During the trip, Genis asked Mithos. "Hey Mithos, when you was fighting Abyssion, was it hard?"

"In the beginning yes, but I heard you guys cheering me on. After that, it became a lot easier." Mithos answered back to Genis happily.

"Hehe good. We will keep cheering you on each time you fight Abyssion, okay?" Genis said and Mithos nodded.

Kratos then asked while indirectly looking at Mithos's crack Cruxis Crystal, which was now green and had no red tint on it. "Do you remember any moves you did on Abyssion, Mithos?"

"Hm... well I did this one move I never did before. I think I called it... Indignation something... I can't r-really remember." Mithos then slowly laid his cheek upon Genis's back as he was sitting behind the white haired half elf on the Rheaird.

Kratos nodded and thought to him. "So he does have his powers when he was in Cruxis or at least he's getting them slowly. Use them for good, Mithos."

* * *

When the group was about a mile away from the Gaoracchia forest, they had a shocked facial expression, seeing that the forest not only double in size but also the forest itself was almost completely black in color. When the group's Rheairds pasted over the dark mana field the forest was emitting, their Rheairds instantly stalled and were going down.

"A-Ahhh! What's going o-on with the Rheairds!" Marta screamed out as he had onto Emil tightly.

"N-Not sure but we're g-going to die if we don't get o-off these things!" Lloyd said loudly as he grabbed onto Colette and leaped off his Rheaird. He landed onto a tree branch with Colette in his arms. Emil and Marta waited until the Rheaird was close to the forest floor and then jumped off. They landed onto the dark ground, near by Lloyd and Colette. Yuan flew over to Raine and grabbed her off the Rheaird while Kratos grabbed Sheena from her Rheaird. Zelos already leaped off his Rheaird and landed next to Emil.

"Genis, g-grab on to me!" Mithos said loudly and Genis wrapped his arms around Mithos tightly. Mithos then gripped onto Genis and leaped off the fall Rheaird. Mithos then crash landed onto the dark ground with his back and groaned a bit. Everyone rushed towards him and Genis.

"Genis, Mithos, are you okay?!" Lloyd asked.

Genis slowly nodded and got off Mithos, in which Mithos got off the ground as well and said. "Y-Yeah."

"Sorry you had t-to land like that, Mithos.." Genis looked down to the ground.

Mithos ruffled Genis's hair and smiled. "It's okay. It didn't hurt as much as it looked." Genis nodded and smiled lightly.

"What happened to this forest? It was creepy as it was before... but now it's..." Sheena said nervously.

"It must be the work of the Necronomicon. Mutating the forest into this hellish image." Kratos said as he began to walk the deep into forest. Everyone soon followed behind him.

"Hey, do you any of you guys know why the Rheairds stopped working?" Sheena asked.

"This forest is dense with dark mana. Rheairds can only work when there's a near perfect balance of mana, both light and dark, and if there's enough mana in the land." Yuan said as he was breathing quite fast, so was Genis, Raine, and Mithos.

Lloyd looked towards them. "Hey, are you guys okay?"

"It's t-this imbalance... of d-dark mana. It f-feels like the gravity... here is three times... stronger and I c-can hardly concentrate." Genis said in between huffs as he then got onto his knees, trying to catch his breath. Mithos leaned onto a dead tree, sweating and closing his eyes. Raine stumbled a bit and then fainted onto the ground.

"Raine!" Lloyd said as he ran to her and kneel down. His hand over the professor's head.

"I have forgotten that half elves are very sensitive to mana levels." Regal said as Kratos nodded.

"W-What do we do? We're too deep in the forest to turn back and, a-and.." Colette looked down to the ground when she said that. Her hands clasped together over her chest while Marta put her hand upon Colette's right shoulder.

"In a way, this can work to our advantage." Kratos said as he looked up.

"What?! How is our friends being effected this badly going to help us?" Lloyd asked, slightly angered.

"Think about it, Lloyd. Their reactions can be a 'compass' or a way-point to lead us where we can find the Necronomicon. I don't like this plan myself, but we won't exactly know where to go in this forest without their reactions. I am assuming the closer we get to the Necronomicon, the more they will be effected by it's negative effects." Kratos suggested.

"Kratos i-is right, and how w-we are already tired and feeling sick, we must be p-pretty close.." Yuan panted deeply and placed his hand onto a tree, leaning on it.

Lloyd groaned and then looked towards Mithos, "Mithos... you are special with the element of light. Is there a way you can... some how make a light mana barrier around us?"

"It won't exactly work one hundred percent, remember what Origin said before he just left? 'Elemental attacks will become weaker over time. Meaning that even a light barrier will not be very effective at this point." Kratos turned his head a bit to look indirectly at his son, Lloyd.

"But it will still work somewhat! It will be better than having them drown in this dark mana. Mithos, please try.." Lloyd asked to Mithos.

"I n-never did a-anything like that b-before... But I will t-try.." Mithos then stood up straight and relaxed. He cleared his mind and had his hands up to the air. Soon, his Cruxis Crystal glowed a dim white color and a semi light barrier spread out and covered the entire group. Though not perfect, it did balance out the dark mana around them a lot better.

"H-Hehe, I did it guys." Mithos said as put his hands down.

Genis slowly stood up from the ground and looked towards Mithos. "Is it taking a lot of energy out of you to do that, Mithos.." Genis was of course worried about Mithos doing such a move.

"Y-Yeah... it is taking quite a lot of energy but I can sustain it for a while, Genis. Please don't be worried." Mithos gave Genis a soft smile and a nod. Genis lightly nodded but kept his eye on Mithos.

Soon, Raine woke up and rubbed her head. "W-What happened?"

"Mithos created a light barrier around us, so there's a balance of mana in the barrier. Get on your feet, we don't have much time too waste." Kratos then looked straight forward and continued to walk. Genis and Lloyd helped Raine onto her feet and everyone followed behind.

* * *

After about five minutes of walking, Mithos suddenly stopped and stared straight forward. Everyone turned around and looked at him.

"M-Mithos..?" Genis looked up at the blonde boy, who had a blank stare with his mouth slightly opened.

Kratos looked at Mithos's Cruxis Crystal, which was turning dark red. "His crystal is turning red again. I think we must be close to the Necronomicon, so it must be effecting Mithos, and he's going to fight Abyssion again." Kratos then looked forward and the light barrier Mithos created disappeared. Yuan, Genis and Raine instantly fell onto their knees and groaned out loud. The dark mana in the area was so strong that even everyone else was starting to feel the effects.

"U-Urgh, you must be r-right, we have to be near that cursed b-book." Emil said as he huffed and panted.

"D-Damn, it n-never been this strong before, s-so why is it like t-this now?" Lloyd wondered as he tried to stand up straight but couldn't.

"Must be the w-works of Neflheim, Abyssion, and the curse..." Kratos then concentrated and created a weaker light barrier around the group, which gave everyone a chance to catch their breath. Though they can still some what feel the imbalance of dark mana around them.

"Mithos, what ever you're seeing in your mind right now, it isn't real. Listen to my voice and break out of the place." Genis pleaded to Mithos, though the blonde boy didn't respond back.

* * *

In Mithos's mind, he was not seeing Abyssion but Pronyma. His eyes widen, seeing the half elf woman approach him. Mithos was speechless at the time.

When Pronyma was in front of the boy, she looked down and shook her head. She then said in soft tone. "Mithos... you must turn back now. If you find the Necronomicon... my soul will be trapped in Neflheim forever."

Mithos then spoke up, "H...How is your soul g-going to be trapped there? You never touched the Devil's arms... so y-you're not cursed."

"But the curse you have includes me, your loyal servant. If you go to that book and do the ritual to teleport to Neflheim... then my soul will be trapped there forever. When you killed me, my soul has been in that realm the whole time. Mithos, if you truly care for me and is sorry for killing me, then you'll not go to that book." Pronyma said as she kneel down to look directly at Mithos's eyes.

Mithos couldn't look directly at Pronyma and looked to the side. He trembled and shook his head. "I'm s-sorry, Pronyma, but I c-can't turn back now, I n-need to do this, but I will find a way to free y-"

Mithos was interrupted by Pronyma. "There isn't another way, Mithos! As soon as you get into Neflheim, then my soul is bound to that realm forever. I will be tortured and used like I'm nothing! I plead and beg of you, Mithos, to not go there! It's a horrible place to be trapped in for all eternity!"

Mithos then looked back towards Pronyma, seeing tears fall down her cheeks, in which he looked down quickly. His hands clutched into tight fists, he couldn't say anything once again.

Pronyma slowly wrapped her arms around the blonde half elf and said. "I forgive you for killing me Mithos... but only if you let my soul leave Neflheim by not even touching the Necronomicon. I still believe in the ideal of having a world of lifeless beings... but not the ideal of being sacrificed so you can save a world full of uncaring and discriminating beings.." Pronyma was then suddenly yanked from Mithos. The blonde boy saw Abyssion having his hand around the back of Pronyma's neck and she struggled to get out of his grasped.

"Abyssion, let her go now!" Mithos demanded loudly.

Abyssion smirked at Mithos and said. "If you want me to let her go, then make me let her go in the realm of Neflheim, but if you go there, then you sealed her fate and she will be in Neflheim forever. It is true how ever that if you don't touch the book Necronomicon, her soul will escape from Neflheim and finally be free. Also, your friends need you to do the ritual in order to get to Neflheim. So you have to choose to either go to Neflheim to break the curse you and your friends are suffering through but seal Pronyma's soul to be in Neflheim forever or basically betray your friends by not going to Neflheim in order for Pronyma's soul to be free, but eventually I will be strong enough to take over your body, hahaha!"

Mithos looked towards Pronyma and said. "Pronyma... I will find a different way to free your soul... but I will not make the same mistake twice... the mistake of putting so much effort to save one person while putting the whole world in danger... I am going to Neflheim, break this curse, and then free your soul Pronyma, I promise. You have to believe in me!"

"Hehe, so you are willing to take the risk of having Pronyma's soul being stuck in Neflheim forever in order to save the world that has beings that can't accept change and differences? Have your way Mithos. Pronyma's soul is mines!" Abyssion shouted as he completely disappeared with Pronyma in his grasp.

* * *

After that, Mithos broke out of the trance and blinked a few times. He sighed a bit and everyone looked towards him.

Genis quickly asked while getting up from the ground, "Mithos, are you okay?! Did you fight Abyssion again?"

Mithos shook his head and looked straight down to the ground. His blonde bangs covered his watery eyes. He already felt like he wasn't going to be able to free Pronyma's soul from Abyssion's grasp.

"Mithos, please tell us what you saw then." Kratos said.

Mithos lightly nodded. "Okay..."


	10. Ritual instructions

"I saw Pronyma in my trance.. She basically told me that her soul is trapped in Niflheim and will be trapped there forever if I even touch the Necronomicon book." Mithos sighed a bit and looked towards Kratos.

Kratos then asked. "Are you sure it wasn't just another illusion set up by Abyssion, Mithos?"

"I don't know but... I am going to Niflheim either way and if Pronyma's soul is trapped there then I will find a different way to free her." Mithos then set up a light barrier around the group and Kratos relaxed with his light barrier disappearing.

"I am thinking if we some how kill Abyssion or Nebilim that's in his body, it will free Pronyma's soul." Genis suggested. Mithos then looked towards Genis with a smiled.

"Yeah, that does make sense, so lets waste no more time and get to the book." Lloyd said with high enthusiasm.

The group began their trip once again, but after ten minutes of walking and feeling out the trail of stronger dark mana, they stumbled across three humans who wasn't moving but surrounding a garden of dead roses and other types of plants.

"Why are they just... standing there?" Sheena asked nervously.

Raine suggested. "I expect the dark mana must be affecting them mentally."

"Well they need to move out of the way." Zelos then walked near the rim of the light barrier and said, "Hey, you guys need to get out of this forest. It's n-"

Zelos was then interrupted by one of the humans turning around and charging to him. The other two followed right behind. Their eyes were completely black, their skin dry and showing the outlines of their veins, most of their hair on their heads was gone as well. The humans almost looked like demons.

"Woah!" Zelos moved back quickly to the middle of the group while the humans bounced off Mithos's light barrier.

"Not very friendly, are they?" Zelos said while dusting himself off.

Kratos then put his hand onto the hilt of the sword and quickly pulled it out with also doing one slash motion. He sent a bit of his energy to the three humans, which hit them. Their bodies quickly turn into dark mist and floated to the air.

"They must have been dead a long time ago and demons took control of their bodies." Kratos then placed his sword back into the holder. Mithos looked towards the shrubs of dead plants and saw a book.

"Is that... the book over there?" Mithos asked while pointing.

"It has to be. The dark mana emitting out of that is stronger than the surrounding area." Yuan answered while he and everyone else gathered around the book. They notice the light barrier bend around the book itself.

"Hm... I don't think we should physically touch it." Emil lightly said. Genis then grabbed a long stick to open the book.

"Look how many pages the book has and it doesn't even have an index to figure out what page has the rituals." Colette slightly whined out.

"Mithos, do you think if you can feel out what page the ritual might be on?" Lloyd asked to Mithos.

"I think I can." Mithos slowly closed his eyes and soon said, "It might be at the back pages."

Genis turned most of the pages with the stick and kept doing so until he saw the title 'Niflheim realm' on the last chapter.

"I think this is it." Tenebrae said while sitting down upon his rear to the ground, his tail lightly wagging.

Raine then asked Genis. "Stop right there Genis, I think I see the instructions on how to do the ritual."

Genis stopped flipping the pages and Raine began to quote out the instructions in simple terms. "First we must all must prove our worthiness to the Devil's arms by subjecting ourselves to each weapon that looks like our own. The more occupants who want to go to Neflheim, the more Devil's arms weapons will appear in the world of Aselia that will be the dark copy of the occupant's weapons or fighting style. When we are able to do that, we must fight our most darkest and evil selves within our minds to gather in illumination. Illumination is needed to protect those who do not want to be influenced by negative aspects of Niflheim."

"Does that mean we have to listen to the voices that comes off the Devil's arms?" Genis asked nervously.

"I am assuming so." Raine continued, "Depending on how many people are wanting to go to Neflheim, determines how strong each dark version of our selves will be." Raine thought for a bit, "So since there's fourteen of us who want to go to Neflheim, it might be difficult to defeat our evil selves."

"Heh, well I want a challenge, and it will be great to fight off the evil inside of me." Lloyd smiled and said excitedly.

"Yeah, same here!" Emil said excitedly as well.

Sheena shook her head slowly. "This isn't a little game y'know."

"Well I am sure I don't have to do that since I am Centurion of Darkness" Tenebrae lightly said.

"That is true." Raine continued on, "Once all party members have overcome their evil selves, illumination will be granted for only one week. Return to the Necronomicon and a medium must do a series of spells in order to open the portal to go to Niflheim. The portal will only last for one week as well, so once the day is up, the portal will be close off forever, to insure the same party can not do the ritual twice."

"So limited time to find a way to break the curse, stop Abyssion and Niflheim, and free Pronyma's soul.." Genis said somewhat sadly.

"Do you think we can do that in only a week?" Mithos asked in a doubtfully tone.

"Do not forget to believe in yourself and us, Mithos. We will get it done." Yuan said as he placed his hand upon both Mithos's and Genis's shoulder while looking down at the Necronomicon.

"Wait hold on... what did mean by a medium having to do the ritual?" Lloyd asked.

Kratos thought for a second before saying. "Hm... Maybe Mithos has to do it. He's a link to both this world and Neflheim in a way since Abyssion's soul is still in his mind, but I could be wrong."

"Hope so. If not, then it's going to be hard to find anyone who can do the ritual." Zelos then crossed his arms over his chest.

"Is there any more details, Raine?" Marta asked.

"Yes. The only beings who can fully enter the realm itself is half elves and Centurions of darkness... while the remaining occupants must gather around the half elves to supply mana to the entire group in order to first make a force field around the party members as each one will be unconscious, so in this way no monster can disturb us. Also for mana to be supplied for the souls to stay in Niflheim for the full week and keep illumination true. Half elves will be able to move things and fight physically in Neflheim while other occupants must watch to see the progress as they will only be 'ghosts' in Neflheim." Raine then sighed a little.

"Wow, that's a bit of a drag, huh?" Sheena rubbed the back of her head a bit.

"So only me, Mithos, Raine, Yuan can truly go into Neflheim.." Genis looked down.

"It will be okay, Genis. I am sure we four will make a good team and beat Abyssion." Mithos said happily, attempting to bring out a smile out of Genis, in which Genis did smile lightly.

Raine continued on, "Each occupant must place their hand upon the cover of the Necronomicon and say the following 'Vincam malis in me suscepi illuminatio, Niflheim adire. Si non, ergo series habens animam suscipiam fiant tristes meo', to uphold their relationship to travel to the realm of Niflheim. Once the Necronomicon as your scent, we can not back away from set deal and if we do not complete it within one week, we all will be cursed with a series of bad events through out our lives, and at the end of our life, our soul will be brought to Neflheim and be trapped there forever.

Mithos flinched and thought. "Pronyma... did you make a deal to the Necronomicon and... not complete it? Is that why your soul is there..?"

Genis looked back towards Mithos, seeing him looking up to the sky. "Mithos, is everything okay?"

"Oh yeah, just wondering a little. Nothing big though." Mithos said as he smiled to Genis.

Raine then asked. "Genis, close the book and each of us must place our hands to the cover of the book. I will then say the chant and everyone else say it with me."

Genis closed the book and slowly everyone placed their hands upon the cover of the book. Raine then said. "Vincam malis in me suscepi illuminatio, Niflheim adire. Si non, ergo series habens animam suscipiam fiant tristes meo." Everyone else said it with her just slightly behind.

Soon, each person's hand glowed black for a bit before a tattoo of the demonic face appeared upon their palms.

Kratos looked at the tattoo and slowly closed his hand. "So it is done. We all must find the Devil's arms and conquer the evil within ourselves. Since Tenebrae can go inside Neflheim by default, that makes thirteen of us. So each day, we will find two of the Devil's arms weapons and on the sixth day, we will find the remaining three, and then the last day, we will go to Neflheim to break the curse.

"But there's one problem everyone. How are we going to get out of this forest if the Rheairds won't start without an equal amount of light mana?" Colette said.

"It's simple, my beauty, heh. We just all need to chip in by emitting out light mana out of our bodies and into the Rheairds. I mean if Kratos is able to make a light barrier around us and he doesn't specialize in the element of light, I am sure we all can do the same. " Zelos said with a light grin.

"Wow, Zelos you said something pretty smart." Genis snickered while Mithos lightly laughed.

Zelos frowned. "Even after all this time, you still a little brat."

Mithos then asked. "But do any of your guys specialize on light mana in your attacks..?"

"Genis, Colette, Marta, and Raine do, but the rest of us don't." Regal said while his hands slowly slipped into his pockets.

"That is true, though it is not impossible for you guys to do what Mithos, Yuan, and I can do. Zelos is right, though you guys will need to just need to concentrate a lot harder." Kratos said.

"Okay then, lets be on our way. No time to waste!" Lloyd said as he was energetic for the adventure ahead. He began to walk back to the Rheairds.

Colette and Mithos slightly giggled while Genis, Raine, and Sheena shook their heads at Lloyd.

The group made their way to the crashed Rheairds. While everyone else was examining the Rheairds, Genis asked Mithos. "Hey, do you wish to still make a burial for Pronyma?"

Mithos looked up to the sky and lightly said. "Well, I do but I can't stand this place much longer. I hope that breaking the curse will make this forest normal, so that way I can make a burial in Pronyma's name without feeling sick."

Genis nodded and walked up to his Rheaird slowly while Kratos then said. "Okay everyone. Clear your minds and close your eyes. Feel the power within your bodies and covert it to the element of light. To most of you all, it will be difficult, but once you feel your body lighten up and also feel a presence of a being around you, that's when you have it."

Raine, Genis, Colette, Mithos, Kratos, and Yuan was able to send their light mana upon some of the Rheairds. Tenebrae, being the Centurion of Darkness, couldn't do it, so he sat there and waited. The rest struggled for a bit but they achieved it and send some of their light mana onto the rest of the Rheairds.

"W-Woah, that takes a lot out of ya, huh?" Lloyd said tiredly while slowly getting on his Rheaird and Colette sat right behind him.

"Of course, Lloyd. Do not forget that you're not a light element based fighter and the elements in this world is already waning down by every passing second." Yuan said as his Cruxis wings would had appeared behind his back.

Kratos's Cruxis wings came out of his back as well and Mithos slowly looked to both of them for a second, then lightly asked. "How do you guys do that?"

Kratos turned his head a bit to look at Mithos. "Not sure how to explain, just imagine them coming out of your back and it happens. You can do it to, though I advise not to just yet. You're still learning your skills and powers." Kratos then flew up to the sky with Yuan, everyone else on the Rheairds followed right behind both males.

* * *

During the middle of the trip, Genis asked. "Wait guys... do you think the Devil's arms weapons are in the same locations as before?"

Zelos lightly scratched the back of his head before saying. "Well maybe they are."

Raine then asked Mithos. "Mithos, do you think you feel out where they might be?"

"Hmm..." Mithos hummed just a bit before closing his eyes. He concentrated hard and suddenly he started to seeing disturbing images of the Evil eye Chakrams, which looked like Colette's weapons except the rings itself was black and had a magma like secondary color on the outside of the rings. In the middle of the ring was a demonic red eye staring up.

"A-Ahhh!" Mithos screamed out as he held his head.

"Mithos, a-are you okay?!" Genis asked, being concerned.

"M-Mhm! I am s-seeing rings... rings like C-Colettes weapon.." Mithos kept his eyes closed and concentrated harder.

"The Evil eye Chakrams." Regal said as he looked towards Colette, who which was gripping onto Lloyds waist somewhat tightly. She was a little scared from the description of the Chakrams Mithos was now saying to the group.

"Do you know exactly where the weapon are at, Mithos?" Yuan asked while crossing his arms over his chest.

In Mithos's mind, he saw a huge tower in the middle of an open canyon. It looked like the Tower of Mana. Mithos then said as he rested his head upon Genis's back, huffing while lightly saying, "It's i-in a tower near the sea."

"The Tower of Mana." Presea said.

Emil somewhat smiled. "Oh, I never been to the Tower of Mana. I can't wait to see what it looks like inside."

Out of nowhere, another wave of dark mana flew across the land in high speeds. The wave was much stronger than the first one the group felt in Triet. This, of course, caught everyone off guard and the Rheairds fell just a bit before stabilizing.

"U-Urgh, seems like Niflheim is getting a little stronger." Yuan groaned.

"I hope the summon spirits are doing okay." Colette said while looking up to the sky.

* * *

The group then flew towards the location of the Tower of Mana was at. When they got there, they notice the tower itself was crumbling from the earthquake that happened twice to the land and they also saw dark spirits and demons surrounding the tower itself.

Raine looked like she was about cry. "No! The Tower of Mana is falling apart! We have to save the knowledge that is stored there!" Raine then flew her Rheaird down to the ground and landed it in front of the group of demons and dark spirits. Everyone soon landed right next to her. The evil beings looked towards the group and growled loudly but didn't charge to them.

Marta then tilted her head to the side. "Why are they not running to us?"

"It is because they're guarding the tower. They know we're trying to get to the Evil eye Chakrams." Kratos then pulled out his Flamberge sword out. Everyone then took out their weapons out as well.

"We need to make this quick everyone. We are all on limited time here." Sheena said.

"Right! If they're not going to make the first move! We will then! Ahhhh!" Lloyd screamed out as he then charged towards the army of demons and evil spirits head on. Soon everyone followed right behind him except Mithos, Genis, and Raine who started to cast spells.


	11. Colettes' calling

"Demon Fang!" Zelos shouted as a wave of blue energy came out of his swinging ice dagger and collided with a group of demons, making an explosion.

Mithos then opened his eyes after chanting a spell and then shouted, "Judgment!" Light beams came down from the sky and struck down on other groups of demons and evil spirits.

Three demons were attacking Colette. The blonde girl had her arms over her face, blocking most of the demon's flaming attacks.

"A-Ahhh! I need h-help!" She screamed out.

"Colette!" Lloyd then jumped into from the ground and started to spin vertically, doing his Tempest move on a row of evil spirits. He landed next to Colette and loudly said, "Fierce Demon Fang!" The brunette boy slammed his right sword to the ground, causing the ground to crack, the dirt shock wave hit the two demons in front of Colette, making the two demons disappear into dark mist. The third demon was holding it's breath and about release a flame onto Lloyd and Colette, but Presea came behind the demon and slammed her ax downwards, slicing the demon in half.

Lloyd looked back and smiled at Presea, in which Presea smiled back at him. Lloyd then looked towards Colette, who has some burn marks upon her body.

He then asked. "Colette, are you okay?"

Colette nodded some and smiled weakly. "Y-Yeah, just a little burnt, heh."

Kratos then looked towards Colette and then loudly said. "Yuan, take Colette inside of the tower of mana. Genis and Mithos, make a path for Lloyd and Presea to aid them because I am sure there's going be demons following them!"

Genis and Mithos nodded together as Yuan got to Colette's side and then asked. "Colette, take out your wings, we will fly over the demons and head straight inside."

Colette nodded and her beautiful angel wings appeared behind her back. Yuan and Colette then flew over the demons.

Genis then said loudly, "Cyclone!" Winds would had picked up at the area where Lloyd and Presea was at, a tornado formed and started to pick up all of the demons into the air.

Mithos then shouted, "Lightning blade!" A large, purple blade made of pure electricity came through the middle of the Cyclone and slammed onto the ground. The blade then spilled the lightning contents onto the ground and on the cyclone to, causing a purple lightning explosion to rise up. The winds from the explosion blew upon the whole area, killing all of the demons.

"Lloyd and Presea, now's your chance, go!" Sheena said loudly as she saw more demons and evil spirits coming towards them from a distance.

* * *

Yuan broke the door open with his double edged sword and flew into the Tower of Mana with Colette. Lloyd and Presea followed right behind them. When all four of them was inside, the door that Yuan broke was now sealed with a red door with many symbols on the surface of the door.

Presea then looked back and said. "We're sealed in here until Colette defeats the evil within her."

"Right. I am assuming the Evil eye Chakrams are at the top of the tower." Yuan said as he picked up Presea from the ground and flew towards the top. Colette picked up Lloyd in the same manner and smiled, though Lloyd felt embarrassed that Colette was able to pick him up so easily.

"Hehe, you okay Lloyd?" Colette giggled.

"Y-Yeah.." Lloyd slightly blushed and looked to the side.

* * *

Outside of the tower, Genis was huffing just a bit and Mithos looked towards him. The blonde boy said with concern in his voice. "Genis?"

Genis looked towards Mithos and gave him a soft smile. "I kind of f-forgot that the elemental mana is slowly waning f-from this world."

"Use only novice spell casts Mithos and Genis. The demons are not that hard to beat." Raine lightly said. The two boys lightly nodded.

"Hehe, here comes round two, everyone." Zelos lightly smirked and got into his fighting stance. So did everyone else as the second wave of demons charged to the group.

* * *

Inside of the tower. Lloyd, Colette, Yuan, and Presea made it to the top of the tower. They didn't see the usual platform where the summon spirits rest. They saw two poles that was holding two Chakrams, which looked like what Mithos described to them earlier.

"Gosh... they still l-look freaky.." Colette nervously said as she walked up to the two Chakrams and slowly held each one in her hands. "So... I have to listen to the v-voices that comes out of the Chakrams r-right?" Colette asked.

"Yes." Presea lightly said.

Colette nodded and closed her eyes. She soon started to hear faint voices in her mind, which soon started to get louder and more demonic toned. Colette started to scream and drop the Chakrams to the ground as she collapsed onto her knees.

"Colette!" Lloyd tried to go to Colette, but he was stopped by Yuan. "Yuan, get out of the way! She's in p-"

Yuan interrupted Lloyd. "It must be part of her getting in touch with the evil inside of her mind and soul. It's best not to interrupt the process or it can cause something negative to happen."

Lloyd sighed and looked at Colette with concern.

Colette went silent and her head hung low. Her breathing was slow and deep. Her hands slowly grabbed the Evil eye Chakrams.

* * *

Inside of Colette's mind, she was looking at her surroundings, the area she was in was that of Iselia. Being outside, the people in the area looked at her with fear in their eyes and ran from her. She blinked and asked. "W-Why are you all... r-running away from me?"

Soon, the land was shaking violently, making Colette fall to the ground and she grunted. The sky turned dark red. Her wings came out of her back, but instead of being a beautiful purple and pink like colors. The wings were grey and red.

Outside of Colette's mind. Lloyd, Yuan and Presea saw her wing's color turn grey and red as well.

"Urgh, I wish I can help her.." Lloyd said sadly.

Back inside of Colette's mind. Colette's skin turned pale and was slightly cracked. Huffing and panicking, she ran towards her house. She opened the door quickly and she saw Phaidra Brunel, her grandmother, and Frank Brunel, her father, cowarding at the corner in the living room.. They also had a look of fear in their eyes.

"Father... G-Grandmother, why are you guys a-all the way over there?" Colette asked.

"Stay away you monster! You're a failed Chosen and you allowed judgment to be placed onto this village!" Frank loudly said to Colette.

"I put my trust and love to you, Colette, and yet you let a twisted tree take form and cause devastation to this land.." Phaidra said.

"But I didn't mean to! I didn't know tha-"

Colette was then interrupted by Frank. "And then you expect everyone to forgive you?! You're not even worthy of have the family name!"

Colettes' eyes slowly turned red as she slowly looked down. She felt a sudden urge to kill Frank and Phaidra.

She coldly said. "Stop blaming me... I did my hardest while you sat here in the safety of the house... Me and my friends reunited the two worlds so there was no need to have a Chosen.."

"If you tried your hardest then why is world still suffering?!" Frank shouted.

Colette then flew towards Frank, her right hand had a tight grip upon the male's neck, choking Frank as Phaidra screamed loudly.

"I am sick and tired of you people blaming me for things that I didn't mean to cause or have nothing to do with! What have any of you two done during my journey of saving the world?! Nothing!" Colette shout as her grip upon Frank's neck grew tighter and she had an evil smirk upon her face. The bones with Frank's neck slowly bent and he coughed up blood.

"I c-can't b-breath...!" Frank said in a hazy tone as his eyes was blood shot and his hands was gripping at Colette's wrist. Just then Colette screamed and dropped Frank to the ground. Phaidra and Frank got onto their feet and quickly left the house while Colette was stumbling in the living room. Knocking over things from the table.

"G-Guahhhhhh!" Colette held her heart tightly as leaned onto a wall and another Colette was slowly forming and escaping the original Colette's body. Soon, there was one Colette, who was huffing and panting. Her wings was back to it's beautiful color and her eyes was back to it's normal color as well. On the other side of the room, there was a more menacing looking Colette. This Colette's wings were fully red while also having cracked skin and her eyes were red, while the white part of her eyes was full black.

The original Colette looked towards the evil Colette and gasped. The evil Colette had an eerie, wide grin upon her face and charged towards the original Colette.

The evil Colette, having the two Evil eye Chakrams in both hands, swung the left Chakram at the original Colette. The blonde girl moved to the right side of the living room and pulled out her Angel Halo Chakrams out and threw both sets at the evil version of herself. The evil Colette easily smack the two Angel Chakrams right back to the original Colette and then she quickly laughed in a dueled, demonic tone.

The original Colette than asked nervously after catching both her Chakrams. "W-Who... What are you?"

The evil Colette looked more directly at the blonde girl and said in a loud whisper. "I am the dark and evil embodiment of your soul and mind that has built up inside of you over the years. I have developed based off your stress and the dark wishes that you have came up with. The darkest wish you had began you were the chosen one. People ever since then blamed you for unfortunate events that have be set on them personally or to the land they live in. So over time, you naturally wished to eliminate those types of beings from the world, so that you won't be blamed for almost every bad catastrophe"

The original Colette flinched a bit and quickly said. "That's n-not true! Even though I wish they would stop, I wouldn't t-think about eliminating them!"

The evil Colette laughed loudly and said. "It is true, Colette. You just never admit to it or showed it your pitiful friends because you simply wanted to be a person who loves all, no matter what. Oh Colette... how I have always hated that name, too peaceful sounding. I think I'll change the name to Solette." Solette than smirked widely at Colette, "Your good side has always kept me silenced... but now I have a chance to break out, defeat you mentally, and then take over your state of mind. I will not lose!"

Solette suddenly disappeared from Colette's sight in a black fog before appearing behind the blonde girl and sending her left foot towards the back of Colette's knee. The kick connected and Colette grunted in pain while kneeling onto her left knee.

"Now perish!" Solette said as she swung her right dark Chakram towards the back of Colette's neck."

"No!" Colette said loudly and with passion. A light wave emitted out of her body and hit upon Solettes' body, sending Solette through the back wall of the living room. Solette landed upon the soft ground outside and smirked once again while standing up straight. Colette floated out of the hole in the wall, her beautiful angel wings flapping quickly and she held onto her Chakrams. Solettes' feet slowly lifted off the ground as well and her red wings flapped about.

"You honestly think you can win?! You hesitate a lot when you're fighting, fool!" Solette said in a mocking while she threw her two Chakrams at Colette quickly.

"I hesitate in fights because I don't like hurting or killing people or things, but I will not hesitate in this battle!" Colette said to Solette while she swung her left Chakrams at the two dark Chakrams that was going towards her. She deflected them to the side with ease and she quickly started to say a few chants.

Solette began to say a few chants as well, she finished off by saying. "Indux beam!" Her right hand shot forward and a large beam of pure dark mana came out of her right hand, which was breaking up the ground under it and quickly coming towards Colette.

"Angel guardian charge!" Colette said, postponing her current chants. Her whole body and her wings glowed a bright white color and she instantly shot towards the Indux beam. The dark beam hit Colette but the beam was deflected and split into many smaller dark beams. Some of the beams hit the ground, while others hit the trees and houses, which burst into flames.

Solette, caught slightly off guard by this, put her arms over her face to brace for impact. Colette's shining head hit upon Solettes' arms and made the evil girl fly back towards a large tree. Solette quickly recovered and bounced off the tree and went into the air.

Colette quickly finished up her previous chants while standing up straight. "Judgment!" A series of beams came down from the sky and attempted to strike down at Solette. Solette herself was shifting and teleporting, thus dodging the light beams. She appeared behind Colette again, but this time her arms wrapped around Colette's torso, holding her in place. Solettes' Chakrams was now racing towards Colette from the front. The blonde girl quickly put up her Chakrams towards the Evil eye Chakrams, blocking the attack. Solette than tossed Colette to the side of the house that was near by them, in which Colette slammed her back onto the wooden wall and huffed.

"Hehe, tired already are we?" Solette mocked as she grabbed her evil Chakrams. Solette continued on to say, "You should just give up. You're fighting in a battle you won't win and you're fighting for the sake of saving the world full of people who will blame you."

"People have t-the right to say what t-they want to say as long as t-they know what consequences may follow them a-afterwards... It's c-called being true and alive. I w-will uphold that even t-though it is true that I s-sometimes wish that those kinds of people never existed... I a-am sorry but I c-can't let you win." Colette said in a low tone of voice as her Chakrams glowed fully white and she thought to herself, "Lloyd... I'm going to do the move you taught me."

* * *

In a flashback. Lloyd was seen with Colette in the area around the growing Kharlan tree. A city was built around the tree as well. Colette turned her head to look at Lloyd and lightly asked. "Lloyd, will you train me on how to become a better fighter?"

Lloyd stopped and looked towards Colette. "Well sure, Colette, but why all of the sudden, hm?"

Colette slowly looked towards the ground and her hands clasped together slowly. "Because... I f-fear that there will be a challenge someday where I have to fight alone and not be in the background doing spells all the time."

Lloyd thought for a second and smiled. "You do a lot of powers that will enable you to think of some cool, powerful, and helpful moves. Sometimes though, you have to be hurt physically or mentally to do a move that is so powerful that no one will be able to get up. We will train after lunch, okay?"

Colette smiled and nodded quickly. After lunch, Lloyd began to train Colette in various ways, which was both aiding Colette become a stronger fighter and making their relationship much closer. Colette than thought of a good final move and attempted to do it many times but always failed at the end result. Lloyd, of course, began to teach Colette ways on completing the move successfully.

After about two days of training, Lloyd said. "Ah, I have to go to my dads' for a bit. We will continue training when I meet you back at city, okay?"

Colette nodded, gave Lloyd a long lasting hug, and slowly let him go. In which Lloyd left afterwards.

* * *

Back in Colettes' nightmare. Solette grinned and charged towards Colette quickly. Colette just stood there and closed her eyes slowly while Solette swung her Chakrams at Colette. Solettes' Chakrams went through a transparent embodiment of Colette, which was fading.

"W-What the-!" Solette was confused at this point and suddenly a beam of light was cast upon her body. She quickly looked upwards, seeing Colette actually charging towards. Colette was bleeding in the places where Solette actually slashed, which was her face, arms, torso and legs.

Colette loudly said. "Multi-Angelic devastation!" Colette's body seem to do a series of fast pace attacks. In which about fifty images of Colette came out of the original body of Colette. These images traveled ahead of Colette and each image did one move that Colette previously done. The first image would punch downwards towards Solette, making the evil girl face plant onto the ground. The rest of the images landed their attacks upon Solettes' back. The ground under Solette was cracking and caving downwards over time.

"Take this! Palmed Hioshion (Hero-shin)!" Colette screamed out as she landed on her two palms upon Solettes' bruised up back after the images of herself did their attack and disappeared. Solette screamed out in pain as white lightning was emitting out of Colette's hands and suddenly the white holy lightning went through Solettes' body and hit the ground, making a crater form under Solettes' body. After that, Colette leaped off Solette and huffed deeply. Colette's body was bleeding badly and the light beam that was around Solettes' body disappeared and so did Solette so after.

"I d-did it..." Colette weakly said to herself as she stood up and limped towards the center of the crater. She saw the Evil eye Chakrams and slowly picked them up. As soon as she picked them up, the Evil eye Chakrams started to change. The red and black changed into a beautiful blue and holy white color that mixed and moves upon the surface of the Chakram. The creepy, demonic eye in the middle transformed into a glowing ball of light mana with small arcs of white lightning emitting out of the surface.

* * *

Just then, Colette opened her eyes and saw her friends surrounding her laid out body. Lloyd was the first to say. "Raine, she's awake. Heal her quickly!"

Raine nodded and had her rod over Colette's body, healing her. Colette's clothes were torn and bloody.

Colette laughed weakly and looked towards Lloyd. She softly said. "I w-won. I d-did the move you help me o-out with in the past."

Lloyd's eyes quickly got watery and his hands gripped upon Colette's left hand softly. "I a-am glad you won, b-but don't talk. Just r-relax please."

Colette slowly nodded and closed her eyes while everyone else was eying at her new Chakrams.

"Mithos, look at her Chakrams heh." Genis smiled as he was impressed by how they look.

Mithos smiled to and nodded. "Mhm. I guess the Devil's arms weapons transforms into it's good counterpart when someone is able to conquer the evil within themselves. They actually look pretty co-" Mithos stopped at mid-sentence and started to get visions in hid mind.

Genis looked towards Mithos and asked. "Are you getting images of the next Devil's arms weapon?"

Mithos quickly nodded and closed his eyes. He was seeing demonic looking leg guards that was placed in a dark cave. The cave itself was under Hima.

Mithos opened his eyes and huffed. He softly spoke. "I s-saw... something like leg guards and it was in a cave under a town that is built on a canyon."

Everyone thought for a second before Marta suggested, "Maybe.. Hima? That's the only place I know, beside Asgard, that is built on a canyon."

"You might be right. Lets take Colette to an Inn when we get there so she can rest." Raine said as she was done healing Colette, though Colette herself passed out a while back.

Everyone nodded and Lloyd slowly picked up Colette into his arms. Everyone walked out of the mostly destroyed Tower of Mana, in which Raine looked at it with tears in her eyes when she turned around to look at it one more time.

"Don't worry, Raine. It will be rebuilt back to normal by the summon spirit of light." Mithos was behind Raine, in which Raine turned around and looked down at the blonde boy. She smiled at Mithos and he smiled back to her.

"You really like this kinds of stuff huh, Raine?' Mithos asked.

Raine then nodded and asked. "Do you like seeing magnificent structures like these?"

Mithos thought for a bit. "I pretty sure I do, heh."

"You don't remember if you do or not?" Raine looked at Mithos more directly.

"Not really. I know I still don't remember a lot of stuff from my previous life. Though... I don't want to remember most of it because I know it's pain.." Mithos slowly looked to the side.

"Hey, come on you two. We need to get going." Lloyd said as everyone else was ready to go to Hima.

"Mithos, if you do remember any of the things that hurt you in the past, don't let it effect you. Always think of the things you have now. You have all of us." Raine lightly said as she walked past Mithos.

Mithos lightly nodded and followed right behind Raine. He then thought to himself. "I miss my sister..."


	12. One hundred percent

Everyone, except Kratos and Yuan who flew up to the sky with the Cruxis wings out on there backs, got on their Rheairds and left the Tower of Mana. During the trip, Tenebrae lightly asked Regal. "Regal, you seem to be very level headed and not a person to have demons in your mind and soul. What evil do you think might be inside?"

Regal slowly placed his right hand upon his chin, thinking for a bit before lightly shrugging. "I am not exactly sure. I don't wish ill will on anyone, unless they have done something so painful and unforgiving to others. Just like Colette in fact, I don't like hurting other people or beings. Though I will if I have to."

"Do you think the evil within yourself has to do Alicia or something?" Lloyd asked. Having Colette, who was still passed out, in his arms while flying the Rheaird.

Presea slightly flinched when Lloyd asked that question. Regal simply responded. "I don't know, but most likely not. I have made peace of what I did to her in the past."

Mithos whispered a question to Genis. "What is everyone talking about?"

Genis slightly looked back at Mithos. "Regal had to kill a girl that he loved, named Alicia, because the Exsphere she was forced to have didn't have a key crest on it."Genis slowly looked down as he continued on, "So she turned into a monster and Regal had kill her to save her.."

Mithos slightly frowned from hearing that as he slowly rested his left cheek upon Genis's back. His eye lids half closed as he looked at the noon sun in the somewhat cloudy sky.

* * *

The group soon made it to the small town named Hima. They noticed all the people who usually reside at the town were gone.

Emil tilted his head to the side and asked. "Where is everyone?"

"Hm, not sure, but I can say that part of the reason why no one is here is because of the Devil's arms weapon that is present under here." Kratos said as he slowly placed his hand upon the hilt of his sword, as he expected some kind of ambush. Everyone else landed onto the ground with the Rheairds.

"Do you think we should check some of the houses? Just to see if there are any scared people hiding from demons?" Mithos suggested.

"That sounds like a good idea." Genis said.

"Right. Everyone split up but be in pairs. Raine, you stay with Colette until she wakes up." Yuan said as he slowly stood beside Kratos.

Raine nodded as Lloyd slowly laid Colette onto the ground. Lloyd went to Tenebrae and asked. "Wanna pair up?"

Tenebrae smiled and nodded to the question.

Genis slowly looked towards Mithos and before Genis could even ask, Mithos said. "Yes, I will be your

partner, heh." Mithos had big smile and Genis smiled back.

Regal paired up with Presea.

Sheena sighed loudly as Zelos loomed over her with hearts in his eyes as he said, "Oh, but this was going to happen regardless! A beautiful ninja lady as yourself paired with a man with the handsomeness that is equal to a god. It's only natur-" Zelos got hit in the back of his head by Sheena's fist.

Sheena quickly said out loud. "This isn't some kind of date, you idiot!"

Zelos rubbed the back of his head and chuckled a bit while nodding.

Soon everyone, except Raine and Colette, split off into different directions.

* * *

Mithos and Genis decided to go to the back of the town and look around in one of the small houses. They soon opened the door in one of houses and Genis got a deep chill down his spine when they walked inside the house itself. Genis lightly hummed to keep himself calm.

Mithos heard the humming and turned to look at Genis, in which he asked. "Genis, are you okay?"

Genis nodded and slowly turned back to look at Mithos. He was fiddling with his thumbs as he looked down a bit.

Mithos tilted his head to the side and asked curiously. "You look like you want to tell me something, but too nervous to utter the words. What is it?"

Genis took in a deep breath and lightly said. "Me and Lloyd didn't tell you everything you did or said after you died in your previous life Mithos.."

"Oh?" Mithos said as he walked up to Genis and look down towards the white haired half elf, "What did you leave out?"

Genis cringed lightly. Seeing Mithos right in front of him was making him very nervous, but he spoke. "Well... right b-before Lloyd cut your Cruxis Crystal to free you soul from it... You said that... you don't regret anything you did in the past and that if you had another chance... you would do it all over again.." Genis then looked up towards Mithos.

Mithos looked to the side a bit and didn't say a word.

Genis then asked. "What are you thinking right now..?"

Mithos sighed and lightly said. "To be honest.. Through out this whole journey, I have been thinking about what I did in the past and... In a way, I don't feel like it's all wrong."

Genis stood there, frozen and his heart was pounding fast.

Mithos continued. "I feel like there's no way to make this world a better place by simply trying to make people not be discriminative towards other races that's not their own. A world of lifeless beings does sound good... like I said back in Triet."

Mithos then looked towards Genis, seeing fear within the boy's eyes.

"M-Mithos..." Genis trembled just a bit as he hesitantly said that.

Mithos gave Genis a reassuring smile. "But I did promise that I won't be like how I was in my previous life. I do struggle to keep my mind right and everything. But... if anything bad was to happen to you then... I..." Mithos's smile soon disappeared.

Genis's eyes got watery quickly as he then asked. "You promise me that no matter what happens to me.. you will not lose control of your state of mind."

Mithos's didn't say anything for a good second before stuttering. "I... er... I u-um..."

Tears was coming down Genis's cheeks as he said somewhat loudly. "P-Promise me, Mithos! I know now that I am almost as important to you as Martel is. I fear t-that if something was to happen to me, you'll lose your way again, but if you make this promise t-then... you'll still be okay in your mind and heart.. a-and not feel alone."

Mithos nodded quickly and wrapped his arms around Genis's body tightly, holding the twelve year old boy tightly to him. "I promise that no matter what, I will not lose my way."

Genis's arms quickly wrapped around Mithos's body tightly as well. His face hidden upon Mithos's chest while Mithos was resting his chin on top of Genis's head. After five seconds passed, they heard foot steps on the second floor in the house and the door that lead outside quickly slammed close on it's own.

"W-What the-!" Genis quickly went to the door and tried to open it but was shocked back from it by a dark spell that was placed on it.

"Genis, are you okay?!" Mithos quickly helped Genis back onto his feet and Genis lightly nodded.

"What is t-that symbol on the d-door?" Genis asked while rubbing his slightly burnt hands.

Mithos slowly walked up to the door and sighed a bit. "It's a dark magitech spell on the door. We won't be able to open it and no one will be able to hear us from other side unless we defeat the person who created it."

"Dark magitechnology... It has to be the work of Abyssion." Genis said as he looked up, still hearing the foot steps on the second floor of the house.

"I agree. Lets stick close together and defeat the being who is doing this." Mithos slowly walked towards Genis and placed his hand upon Genis's shoulder. In which Genis nodded.

Both of the boys started to walk up the stairs to the second floor.

Meanwhile, Raine carried Colette to a front porch in one of the houses in the village. The white haired elf woman laid Colette's head upon her lap as she sat down upon the top step of the stairs while Coffee slowly laid upon the ground and curled up, falling asleep. Raines' blue eyes slowly looked down at Colette's face and she smiled a bit due to her finding some comfort at how peaceful Colette looked from just simply resting.

Just then, Colette's eye lids slowly opened. Blinking a few times, she looked up to see Raines' smile first and then all of Raines' face. Raine got a good glimpse of Colettes' full white eyes and paused.

Colette smiled lightly before turning her head to the side just a bit. "Where are we and where is everyone, Professor?"

Raine blinked before answering."We are in Hima, because one of the Devil's arms weapons is in a cave under this village. As you can see, there's no villagers here for some reason so everyone else split up to look for any people who are hiding from monsters." Raine explained as her eyes looked up to the sun indirectly. The sun itself was beginning to under go it's sunset stages.

Colette nodded a bit and asked. "Which weapon are we looking for?"

"Apocalypse, the leg guards." Raine said.

Colette nodded and slowly lifted her heard up from Raines' lap to sit right next to the professor. Colette went silent and she placed her right hand upon the left side of her chest and huffed.

Raine heard the light pants and huffs Colette was emitting and asked. "Colette, what's wrong?"

Colette trembled as she said in a hesitant voice. "I d-don't know... I f-feel strange." Colettes' state of mind was off center due to the fact all the evil she had inside of her are, for the time being, subsided fully.

Raine tilted her head to the side and lightly asked. "Does you head hurt?"

"My h-head and m-my heart." Colette leaned over a bit as her right hand gripped at the left side of her own chest more.

Raine nodded and wondered for a bit. She then suggested. "Maybe... since you conquered the evil with yourself, there must be some sort of imbalance in your mind and heart. There must be at least a bit of evil in everyone so that balance is there within one's self.

Colette looked towards Raine. "So what is g-going to happen to me?"

Raine looked down to the ground and sighed. "I am not sure, but we need to get all this done as fast as possible. I am assuming when all of us conquer the evil inside of ourselves, we will be going through the same aliments that you're suffering right now."

The former chosen lightly nodded and slowly stood up while tilting her head back to look up at the slightly orange sky, as she slowly held her own hands together in front of her chest. Relaxing and clearing her mind, her body was starting to feel better over a few minutes.

During this time, Raine was thinking to herself and eventually said. "Colette, I am curious."

"Curious about what, professor?" Colette asked while turning her head to the side so she could look back at Raine slightly.

"I am curious about what demons you had built up inside of you." Raine said.

Colette's eyes went slightly misty as she looked back up to the sky and said in a soft tone. "Even with the two worlds reunited, people still blame me for sad events that happened to them... they still blame me for the Kharlan tree going out of control a while back, which killed so many innocent people... The evil I had in m-me was... w-was..." Colette couldn't finish her sentence as she felt a wave of sadness overcome her mind.

Raine then said. "I am guessing the evil that was inside of you wanted to get rid of the people who are blaming you, yes?"

Colette nodded as her arms dropped to her sides and she sat back down next to Raine. The tall, white haired half elf slowly wrapped her arm around Colette's shoulders, in which Colette laid the side of her head upon Raines' chest just a bit.

"It is okay. This world will always have people who can't understand and will blame others for unfortunate events that takes place." Raine said in a calm voice. Attempting to cheer up Colette.

Meanwhile, Kratos and Yuan stepped inside of a house that was on the far right side Hima. They stumbled upon scattered remains of people. There was blood on the destroyed walls with symbol like claw marks along the walls. Yuan slightly cringed from the horrific scene while Kratos got onto his right knee and slowly place the tip of his index finger into a small pool of blood in front of him.

"Hm, it's still very wet and warm... this happened recently." Kratos said as he stood up quickly and drew out his flaming sword, the Flamberge.

Yuan drew out his double edged sword, the Swallow. They both went further inside of the house and looked for any people who was hiding. Just then, they heard some sobbing noises coming from a room on the left side of the house. Yuan walked up to the door and slowly opened it. He saw a small boy crying to himself. The boy had light blond hair, his eye color was light blue and he looked to be thirteen years of age. His shirt was plain white with a lot of blood stains upon it. His jeans was winkled and had dark blood stains on them as well. His left thigh area of his jeans was slightly bigger than the right side but Yuan didn't pay much attention to that.

The boy saw Yuan and Kratos and loudly said in a feared toned. "G-Get away from me, demons!"

"We are not demons. Please believe us that we are here to help." Yuan said as he slowly held his right hand to the boy. The boy hesitated for a second before placing his hand upon Yuan's hand, in which Yuan helped the boy out of the small room.

"Do you know where the demons went?" Kratos asked and the boy shook his head slowly.

"What is your named?" Yuan slowly stood up as he asked that question.

"My n-name is Yukunan." The boy said nervously.

Kratos nodded. "We should leave this place." He turned around and walked out of the house. Yuan and Yukunan was right behind him.

Lloyd and Tenebrae was at the far left side of the village as Tenebrae looked around the area and his ears was perked up. Lloyd looked towards Tenebrae and asked. "Are you sensing something near by?"

Tenebrae replied, "Sort of. Ironically, the quietness in this village is distracting me from fully being able to pick up any kind of mana."

Lloyd just nodded a bit and walk into a house. He stopped when he saw claw markings upon the destroyed walls. The markings looked like symbols as well.

"What the hell..?" Lloyd said to himself as Tenebrae looked at the markings

After a few seconds of observing, Tenebrae said. "The markings tell something."

"What do they tell?" Lloyd asked curiously.

"I can't fully make out all of it but... It says something about four beings roaming." Tenebraes' ears went down a bit, slightly frustrated by not being able to fully read it all to tell more information to Lloyd.

"Four beings huh? I am going to guess these four beings has something to do with the disappearance of the villagers." Lloyd than walked out of the house with Tenebrae following right behind him.

"I am pretty sure these four beings are also guarding Apocalypse as well. We need to tell the others." Tenebrae suggested and Lloyd nodded as they was making their way back towards where Colette and Raine were at. Off in the distance, upon a cliff, there was a dark shadow that was watching Lloyd and Tenebrae. The shadow was tall and thin. The right thigh area of the shadow was slightly bigger than the left side.


	13. SSIP

[SSIP: Strength, Speed, Intelligence, Protection]

Presea and Regal was at the back of the village. They was walking along one of the main foot pathways which lead to one of the many burial grounds that Hima has.

Presea was thinking to herself and was staying more quiet than normal. Regal noticed this and asked. "Are you thinking about Alicia?"

Presea's eyes looked down to the dirt ground and softly spoke. "Yes. Is it true that you have made peace with what you did?"

Regal nodded to the question. "I am sure I have."

Presea than asked. "So what other evil or demons do you have that you haven't told anyone else?"

Regal sighed as he already knew what it most likely will be. He soon stopped walking and Presea stopped right behind him. Soon, the blue haired, tall male turned around to look down at the pink haired girl. "Well... It migh-"

Regal was cut off mid-sentence when hearing a groan that was close to him and Presea. The groan sounded like an elderly man in pain.

"I will tell you soon. We need to find out where that sound is coming from." Regal said as he walked to the other direction to track and locate where the sound was coming from. Presea nodded and followed right beside him.

Both Regal and Presea soon walked back inside the complexes of house when they saw an elderly man sitting limply upon the side of one house. The old man was sweating, panting deeply with his eyes closed. The elders' clothes was torn and ripped while his skin was nearly covered with blood. His right hand was upon his stomach, which seem to be slightly opened due to a wound the man apparently got. Also, the right calf muscle on man was slightly bigger than the left.

Regal and Presea ran to the injured man and kneel right beside him. Regal then quickly spoke. "Sir, are you okay? Where are you hurt at?"

The old man slowly lifted his hand up from his stomach, in which Regal and Presea saw the deep gash on the man's stomach. Presea then said to Regal. "We need to get him to Raine as soon as possible."

"Yes, but that might be difficult. I fear if we move him, then the wound is going to open more. We need to go back to Raine and ask her to come here and heal him." Regal said while standing up straight.

As soon as Regal stood up, the old man's eyes quickly opened. His eyes was fully black and his veins was instantly showing upon his pale skin. The man screamed out loud and leaned towards Regal. The man was trying to get his bloody right hand towards Regals' face, in which Regal quickly went back and sent his right leg towards the male's approaching hand. The kick hit it's mark and smacked the man's hand away. Presea quickly pulled out her ax from it's holster behind her back.

The old man quickly stood up and laughed loudly. His skin seemed to be peeling off at this point while his teeth was growing more animistic like and his muscle mass grew five times more defined, dense and large, which made the old man look more horrific than before.

"Hahahaha! You'll never get near Apocalypse, Regal!" The demon said loudly before screaming even louder. The scream could be heard all over Hima.

"Hm?" Yuan looked up quickly when hearing the scream and so did Kratos.

Yukunan eyes turned full black and he would send his vibrating right fist towards Yuan's ribs since he was right beside him. The boy's fist collided upon Yuan's armor, which cracked from the sheer force and Yuan was sent flying through a wooden wall in one of the many houses that surrounded them. Kratos quickly pulled out his flame sword and turned around quickly to swing his blade towards the demon boy.

Yukunans' body seemed to had glitched and disappeared just in time before Kratos's blade made contact.

Yukunan than spoke in a high pitched, demonic tone. "Too slow!"

Yukunan appeared behind Kratos and was about six feet off the ground. The boy's right foot coming into contact with the back of Kratos's head. Kratos flew forward, quickly recovered mid-flight, and landed upon his feet while turning around.

"Cool that you recovered from that." Yukunan said with an evil smirk upon his lips.

"Hmph, you honestly believed that you was going to kill me or Yuan with such a weak surprise attack?" Kratos asked sternly as his Cruxis angel wings appeared upon his back.

A beam of lightning would had came out of the hole in the wall from the house Yuan crashed through. Yukunan moved forward incredible fast, thus dodging the lightning beam. Kratos launched forward towards Yukunan and sent his flame sword forward towards Yukunan. The demon boy tilted his upper body to the right side, causing Kratos to miss his attack. Yukunan than spun once, his neck slightly touching the hot blade and attempted to give Kratos a hard blow to his chest with his left palm. Kratos's other hand came towards Yukunans' open palm, blocking the attack.

Yuan than came flying out of the house with his double edged sword. When he got near Yukunan, he swung his large blade downwards towards the top of Yukunans' head. Yukunans' body went transparent and Yuan's blade only hit the dirt ground while going through the transparent image of Yukunan.

"What?!" Yuan was shocked by this.

Kratos pulled his blade back and moved it near the back of Yuan's head. He block Yukunans' feet from making contact with the back of Yuan's head.

Quickly, the blue haired half elf then brought his large blade up to his face, just barely blocking a second Yukunans' fist from landing the attack.

Attempting to cut one of the Yukunans' in half, Yuan moved his blade from his face and towards the Yukunan that was in front of him. The image of Yukunan disappeared from Yuan's blade and so did the second one from Kratos's blade.

"Hehe, just as I thought. You two are much slower, especially you, Yuan." Yukunan mocked at both Cruxis male as he was standing there with his arms crossed. The demon boy was ten feet from Kratos and Yuan.

"What did you say?!" Yuan was angered by Yukunans' comment and was about to go towards the boy but he was stopped by Kratos's hand.

"Calm down, Yuan. He's trying to make you mad so that you don't think straight during the battle. We need to figure out what kind of abilities he has." Kratos lowered his hand from Yuan's chest.

Yuan nodded and quickly stated. "I can tell you first that the main one must be speed. Being able to make the illusion of being at two places at once acquires great speed."

"Indeed. We do have a chance to win this because he doesn't seem to have that much strength behind his attacks, but lets not underestimate him." Kratos then got into his fighting stance. Yuan nodded and soon got into his fighting stance as well.

"Ha! This should be fun!" Yukunan excitedly said as he charged dark mana around his body for three seconds before running towards Kratos and Yuan quickly.

Lloyd and Tenebrae made their way back to the middle of the village. They saw Colette resting her head upon Raines' lap. Colette was playing around with some butterflies with her hands as she giggled.

Lloyd's eyes went wide open from the increasing happiness building up in his mind. "Colette, you're awake!"

Colette heard Lloyd and sat up upon the stairs. A smile formed upon her face and she quickly said. "Lloyd!"

Lloyd ran ahead of Tenebrae and when he got close enough, he kneel upon the first step of the stairs and asked. "Are you feeling better?"

Colette nodded and soon explained to Lloyd and Tenebrae. "I am mostly okay. Though I am feeling a little light headed and my heart keeps pounding for some reason."

"I assuming it must be an effect of her subduing her dark side within her mind and soul." Raine said, giving Lloyd and Tenebrae a very brief explanation.

Tenebrae walked up to Colette, noticing her pure white eyes. "Colette, your eyes are completely white. Have you noticed this?"

Colette nodded. "Yes because Raine told me.

Lloyd would then say. "That looks pretty cool. I wonder wh-"

Lloyd stopped in mid-sentence when hearing the loud, demonic sounding scream off in the distance. He stood up, turned around, and quickly pulled out his Muramasa twin blades from it's holders. Coffee quickly woke up from his slumber and growled, as it sensed something evil approaching, but didn't know where it was exactly. Tenebrae also turned around with Lloyd and tried to feel out where this sudden feel of dark mana was coming from. Raine grabbed her Hanuman's staff and stood up from the stairs as her eyes was looking left and right. Colette pulled out her now new holy counterpart evil eye Chakrams, which was called the Seinaru neiwa (Seen-nar-woo New-waa) Chakrams. Colette's beautiful angel wings appeared upon her back as well.

After the scream, everything went very silent for a bit. On the roof that was near Lloyd and the rest that was near him, the dark, skinny shadow like being was standing. It's eyes were pure blue and the rest of his body seemed to be cover with just darkness, so no features could be seen upon the creature's body.

Suddenly, Lloyd, Colette, Raine, Tenebrae, and Coffee saw huge amounts of dirt and wood fly in different directions at the back of the village where Regal and Presea were at. They also heard battle cries and grunts in the mix of the sounds of destruction.

Just then, the tall, thin shadow like figure jumped off the roof of the house that Raine and Colette was sitting at. The dark being landed in between Tenebrae and Lloyd. The ground under them quickly dent under their feet and ground exploded upwards under Lloyd and Tenebrae, which sent them flying high in the air.

Colette quickly threw her right Chakram towards the being from behind, The dark being's back suddenly had hellish looking markings that glowed a blue color, in which the tall being simply moved to the right side. The white Chakram missed and was coming back around to hit the being from the front this time.

"You will not be able to touch I, Umbri..." The dark being stated in a hazy, demonic toned voice. His body separated into millions of pieces and the pieces went into different directions. The Chakram came right back to Colette's right hand. The dark pieces of Umbri came back as one to form his body, in which Raine pointed her rod towards Umbri.

"Dodge this." Raine said to herself as her rod quickly shot seven light arrows to Umbri. The arrows were going at the speed of sound, but Umbri was able to shift left and right just fast enough to dodge the arrows.

"Impossible!" Raine was shocked by how easily Umbri dodged her attack.

"Rughhh!" Lloyd was coming back down towards Umbri in high speeds, as he was doing his Rising Falcon attack. Lloyd landed upon the ground with a fire explosion being emitted when he landed. Dirt, rocks and dust kicked up from under and around Lloyd. After the dust cleared, the group was shock to see Umbri wasn't near them anymore.

Tenebrae landed right behind Lloyd and his mouth quickly opened, he was forming a dark beam. Tenebrae shot it out from his mouth and towards a dark area in a near by house. The house itself exploded from the attack and there was Umbri in the mist of flying wood and furniture. It's left hand was out in front of him, blocking Tenebraes' beam.

"Just as I thought, he won't be effected by my attacks." Tenebraes' tail swayed side to side quickly while slowly moving back as Umbri was walking forward.

"How in the hell was it able to dodge your attack like that, Raine?" Lloyd asked while he slightly back up with Tenebrae.

Raine shook her head as she didn't know the answer exactly. "I don't know but symbols or markings appeared on it's back when he started to dodge our attacks."

Tenebrae then suggest. "Lloyd, Colette, and Raine, if you can distract it long enough then I can try to see if I can read the markings on it's back."

Lloyd nodded. Raine and Colette walked up beside Lloyd and nodded to.

"You all will not win this battle..." Umbri said coldly as he slowly started to run towards Lloyd and the group.

* * *

Genis and Mithos made their way to the second floor of the house they was trapped in. They both heard the scream from out of the house just then and looked around.

"What was that?" Genis asked nervously. He held his Phantasmagoria Kendama tightly in his right hand.

"I'm not sure but I don't like the sound of it." Mithos said as he walked down the strangely long hallway.

Genis quickly took note of how long the hall way was, which didn't make sense to him because the house isn't that big to begin with. "How can this hallway be this long?"

"Must be the work of the dark magitechnology that is on the door. It has to be creating this illusion." Mithos stopped in his tracks and looked back towards Genis, seeing that white haired half elf having a scared look upon his face, "Are you going to be okay, Genis?"

Genis nodded slightly to Mithos's question when suddenly there was a loud bang heard on the other side of the door they was near by. Genis quickly jumped and backed up to the railing while huffing. His heart was racing in his small chest. Mithos slightly backed up from the loud bang as well but didn't show how scared he actually was, for he wanted to look strong for Genis. Mithos slowly moved his right hand to Genis's left hand and held it tightly, trying to comfort Genis.

"Don't be scared, Genis. I will protect you from anything that will hurt you, like you promise to do for me." Mithos said as he looked towards Genis and gave the boy a light smile. Genis smiled a bit and held Mithos's hand tightly.

The door that had the bang slowly opened and both boys looked inside of the room. They saw a pair of green eyes glowing in the loom of darkness that flooded the room.

They then heard a woman's voice, which said. "Hello boys. You seem to want to protect each other. What do you two know about protection?!" The dark figure in the room stood up slowly and began to say a few chants. A few demons spawned in the room and the demonic woman said in a somewhat mocking tone, "Want to leave this house? Then come inside and see if you can survive."

Mithos and Genis looked at each other again and nodded. They both walked inside of the dark room and the door closed behind them. As soon as the door closed, the demons ran towards them quickly.

"Get ready, Genis!" Mithos said as he got into his fighting stance while being in front of Genis. His hands glowed white, bringing some light in the room.

"Right!" Genis pulled up his Kendama forward and began to say spell chants.


	14. Together once again

Regal had his back against a wooden wall. His blue hair was messy, he was sweating, there was cuts here and there on his body. His pants, shoes and shirt was torn in multiple places.

"This demon... is very strong. My attacks barely even eff-" Regal was talking to himself for a good bit before he heard the large demon running through the walls inside of the house. He leaped forward and the demon busted through the wooden wall of the house. Regal did some flips and landed upon his feet smoothly.

The old looking, buff demon smirked at regal and said. "You don't show enough strength to have the right to wield Apocalypse, Regal! You can't even handle me, Goroze (Go-Ro-Zz), a user who is using only one fourth of it!"

"Hm?!" Regals' eyes slowly widen as he looked towards the right calf muscle of Goroze. He saw the outline of right upper piece of Apocalypse imprinted upon Gorozes' right thigh. "I see what this is now." Regal than ran towards Goroze, zig zagging along the dirt ground quickly.

Goroze than ran straight towards to Regal. When he got close enough, Goroze sent his large right fist towards Regal. In which Regal leaped upwards just in time so he could dodge the attack. The blue hair male did a front flip over Goroze and before he landed, his two feet went back. Regals' two feet collided at the back of Gorozes' head, but the demon barely moved forward. Goroze turned around quickly as his left, tree trunk like forearm struck Regal to the side. Regal flew through a wall wooden wall in one of the houses that surrounded him

Presea was on top of one of the smaller cliffs that surrounds Hima. Her cold eyes looking down at Gorozes', who's back was turned to her. Her clothes was also torn in many places with some cuts along her face, arms and legs. She then jumped off the cliff and swung her ax back as she silently said. "Max destruction.."

When she was about to land upon Goroze, she swung her ax downwards to the large demon. Goroze smirked and turned around quickly once again. His right hand would had came up and grabbed the metal staff part of Preseas' ax, thus stopping her attack half way. The built up energy and momentum of Preseas' attack quickly channeled from her ax to Gorozes' body in a large, blue shock wave that also went down to the ground. A crater than formed under Gorozes' feet and the demon kneel down onto his right knee.

"Urgh. Surprising that such a small girl can pack so much power. I will enjoy feeding off of you especially, haha!" Goroze slowly stood straight up. Preseas' ax still in his right hand. Presea quickly opened her hands from the hilt of her ax and landed onto her feet on the ground. She then leaped away from Goroze as fast as she could.

"Don't forget your ax, girly!" Goroze than threw the ax right towards Presea in high speeds. The girl moved to the side and let the ax miss her body. The ax hit upon the cliff's wall, slicing through three inches into the solid garnet wall itself.

Regals' hands was glowing blue from the amount of mana he stored up over the years and finally releasing once again. He sprinted out of the house silently and got up behind Goroze without him noticing. He placed both of his palms onto the demon's muscular back and a huge beam of blue, pure mana engulfed Goroze and send him flying towards Presea.

In which Presea quickly pulled her ax out of the wall and loudly said. "Infliction!" She swiped her large ax upwards in a powerful vertical slash, flying off the ground slightly from the swift upwards momentum while creating a light yellow arc that represented crescent moon. Her ax hit upon Gorozes' face and send the demon upwards into the air.

Goroze landed onto the ground with a thud and he didn't move.

Regal quickly ran and stood beside Presea as he silently spoke to her. "He is very strong but he isn't that fast and somewhat sloppy with his attacks. We can use his carelessness as an advantage."

Presea nodded and quietly suggested. "One of us will have to distract him while the other attacks him indirectly. We can't go at him head on."

Regal nodded in agreement as he saw Goroze slowly getting up. His face had a huge gash that ran from his chin and all the way up to his forehead in a diagonal line. He leaking black blood and he smirked. His right eye was cut from the gash as well, so he couldn't see most of the right side of his view. Gorozes' back was also heavily burned from Regals' attack.

"You actually managed to hurt me. I was starting to fear that this was going to be too easy. I now have a reason to actually try!" Goroze said loudly as his muscle mass slightly grew and his legs was glowing a dark red aura.

Presea and Regal got into their fighting stance quickly. Goroze right foot pushed off the ground, making the ground crack under his launch. He was even faster than before, which surprised Presea and Regal to the point where they slightly let their guard down. Goroze disappeared and appeared behind the blue hair male and girl. His large hands quickly gripped the back of their heads and ran forward. Both Presea or Regal couldn't break out of the monster's grip as they smashed through many sections of houses that Goroze was going through. They all eventually made their way to the middle of the village, about thirty feet behind where Lloyd and the others was at as they was fighting off Umbri.

* * *

Umbri himself was dodging all of Lloyd's sword swings and slashes.

Colette was about to do her judgment attack on Umbri when saw Regal and Presea in trouble. She focused her attack upon Goroze. A beam of pure light mana would had struck down Goroze, making the large demon grunted out in pain and get onto his knees. His hands lost their grip upon Regals' and Preseas' head. Regal got his feet onto the dirt ground and quickly turned around to send his knee upon Gorozes' face. Goroze flew off to the side and Umbri appeared in the path of where Goroze was heading towards. Umbri caught Goroze and slid back just a bit before setting the large demon down.

Presea and Regal made their way to where Raine was at, asking her to heal. Raine quickly moved her staff above Raine and Presea, healing them slowly.

Regal noticed how slow the healing process was going and asked. "Are you injured Raine? You are healing slower than before."

"I am okay, it's just that the overwhelming dark mana surrounding this place and the world's light mana being sucked away is making my healing artes much slower than usual." Raine answered.

Lloyd and Tenebrae was shocked, seeing how Goroze looked with his oversize muscles and bloody face.

"Who... w-what is that?" Lloyd asked hesitantly.

"That is Goroze, the demon we was fighting." Presea said while lightly huffing still.

"What demon were you guys fighting?" Regal asked.

"His name is Umbri. A demon that I think can predict any beings movements just seconds before they actually do it... the markings upon his back say intelligence." Tenebrae said while standing next to Coffee.

"He doesn't looked like he that intelligent." Zelos said as he, Sheena, Emil, and Marta was standing there at the hole in the wall where Goroze busted though with Presea and Regal in the house earlier.

"Guys, you're here!" Lloyd said excitedly.

"Well of course we're here. We all heard that scream and ran back over here as fast as we could." Sheena than pulled out her Cards of light and gripped one in each hand. Zelos already had his Last Fencer sword out and ready. Marta's Trick bind Spinner was spinning and she got into her fighting stance while Emil pulled out his Echo Trancer sword out.

Goroze began to chuckle first and started to laugh out loud before saying, "You really think you can beat me and Umbri? Seems like the world's mana flow stopping seemed to have clouded your judgment."

Umrbi than simply stated. "Do not underestimate them... they have been able to damage you."

Goroze smirked. "Like it matters. I can take a lot more than just a beam of light hitting me and a cut on my face."

Regals' eyes focused on right thigh muscle of Umbri. Only able to see it was slightly larger than the left thigh, he assumed that Umrbi must have the second piece of Apocalypse.

"Blah blah blah, enough talk. Lets see how good you really are, muscle head." Zelos was cocky and he pointed his sword to Goroze.

"I agree. Lets take these guys down!" Emil said after Zelos and he ran towards Umbri. Lloyd and Marta was going towards Umbri as well. Regal and Presea got up, mostly healed now, they ran towards Goroze while Zelos and Marta ran towards Goroze in the other direction. Colette flew forward, wanting to aid her friends in the fight but she was stopped by Raines' staff.

Colette looked towards Raine, "Huh..?"

"I suggest you stay back and due spells Colette. You're not one hundred percent yet." Raine said.

Colette nodded and slowly clasped her hands together, saying chants. Raine was doing the same while Tenebrae and Coffee watched the battle.

* * *

Yukunan quickly shifted back from Kratos and Yuan, who was running towards him.

"Stop running, you coward!" Yuan said loudly as he then slam his double edge sword to the ground quickly. A series of cracks formed towards Yukunan while lightning could be seen blooming out from the cracks. Kratos shifted to the right quickly while Yukunan was distracted.

"You think this will get me?!" Yukunan asked Yuan loudly as he moved to the right quickly.

"Heh, no I don't, but that's the point of a distraction, you fool." Yuan mocked at Yukunan as the demon boy ran into Kratos's knee that collide upon his gut in full force. Yukunan quickly spat out black blood as he groaned loudly. Just before Yukunan could flash back, Kratos's left hand grab a hold of the demon's hair.

"U-Urgh, let me go!" Yukunan demanded to Kratos as his legs was shifting back and forward in the air while Kratos lift the demon boy up from the ground.

"He will do no such thing. Now die!" Yuan ran towards the right side of Yukunan and swung his double edged sword towards the rib cage of demon.

"Mom help!" Yukunan said in a loud, pleading voice.

* * *

Inside of the house where Genis and Mithos was fighting off waves of demons, the female demon's green glowing eyes looked up as she softly said. "Mommy is here, don't worry." The demon's eyes quickly closed and the demons around the boys stood there with their eyes looking up as well. Mithos tilted his head to the side now, being slightly confused.

* * *

Yukunans' body was now covered by a thin barrier around his body that took most of Yuan's slash attack. The barrier than exploded, which Kratos and Yuan blew back one way and Yukunan towards the middle of the village. Yukunan was recovering when he saw he was getting close to Zelos, who was attacking Goroze. With a quick flip, Yukunan slammed his foot upon Zelos's face, sending the red hair, former chosen back a few feet to Lloyd and Marta. After doing that, the demon boy landed right beside Goroze.

"Who did that?!" Zelos asked loudly as he stood up straight, to then see Yukunan right beside Goroze. "Great, there is more of them."

The rest of the group went back from Umbri and Goroze to regroup.

Regal quickly stated. "The reason why they're powerful is because they each have one piece of Apocalypse. Look at one side of their legs and notice there's either an imprint piece of Apocalypse or their leg muscle is large than the other."

The group would notice the different of sizes on each of the demon's legs. Marta and Sheena was shocked by this.

"I am thinking we have to kill them in order for us to get the complete set of Apocalypse." Regal said.

"Ha! As if you can beat us." Yukunan slowly crossed his arms over his chest and smirked.

Gorozes' large hand slowly patted Yukunans' head while smirking to and said, "Give it up. You walked into your own graves that me, my grandson, and my son had so happily set up for you all."

"Father... son..?" Emil was confused by Goroze's statement.

"They must be a family." Kratos said as he was walking towards Lloyd and the others with Yuan. "I heard child asking his mother for help not to long ago, which I think Genis and Mithos are fighting somewhere with her."

"I do hope Genis and Mithos will be okay." Colette looked down to the ground, being concerned.

"Those boys don't stand a change against that powerful woman... " Umbri coldly stated.

"You must not know what Mithos can actually do." Yuan said as he stood right beside Marta.

"And you clearly don't know what Genis is capable of." Raine said reassuringly as Kratos stood beside her.

"As if we care. Mother will not lose!" Yukunan was getting slightly angry at this point.

* * *

Inside of the house, Genis looked towards the demon woman, who was still looking up, and saw a red spot at her left calf where it was slightly glowing red. "Mithos, hit that spot right there while she is still looking up!"

Mithos quickly nodded and shifted up to the air now with his light sword in his hand. The female demon quickly looked downwards towards Mithos and the demons quickly surrounded her body. The blonde boy's sword stuck one demon deeply and quickly released all of the energy in the sword itself, making a huge light explosion.

The explosion quickly evaporated the demon's around the female while Genis finished doing his light spell and said loudly. "Blessing light!"

A wide and thick beam of pure light shined off Genis's Kendama and hit upon the female demon's left calf muscle area. She screamed loudly out of sheer pain as the dark magitechnology spell broke and she teleported out of the house. Bringing Genis and Mithos with her. She appeared behind Goroze and Umbri as she kneel down in pain. Her son, Yukunan came to her aid quickly, so did Goroze and Umbri afterwards.

"Akumu, are you okay?" Goroze asked while he had his hand upon his Akumus' wounded left leg.

Akumu slowly nodded. "Yes. I was helping Yukunan and those two boys seized their chance and got me. I won't be able to summon demons but I am still able to provide protection."

"I'm sorry, mom..." Yukunan slowly looked down towards the ground, to only feel his mother's cold hand touch his cheek softly. Yukunan slowly looked up to Akuma, seeing her smile at him. He soon started to smirk as well.

Kratos took note of the interactions being presented before him. The four creatures didn't seem to have the mentality of pure demons to him.

"They will pay for this... for hurting my wife.." Umbri said simply as Goroze and Yukunan stood. Being in front of Akumu.

Mithos and Genis appeared right beside Colette. In which Raine noticed and ran towards Genis and gave him a tight hug. "A-Are you okay Genis?" Raine asked in a concerned tone.

"Yes Raine, I am okay heh." Genis smiled up to his big sister.

Kratos walked up to Mithos. "I am assuming you did good in your battle with that demon. I am very proud of you, my student."

Mithos lightly smiled up at Kratos for a second before Sheena said. "Sorry to ruin the reunion but the demons are looking at all of us. Get ready."

The whole group quickly got into their fighting stances. Mithos quickly ran forward and stood beside Yuan. Kratos did the same and started to tell a plan just loud enough to only his group to hear but not the demons. "Me, Lloyd, Mithos, Yuan, Marta, Emil, Zelos and Sheena will be in the front lines, distracting the demons. Raine, Colette, and Genis, you will stay in the sidelines, providing us support and cover fire. Tenebrae, try to figure out if they got any weaknesses, understand?" The rest of the group nodded.

Goroze smirked widely as he and Yukunan slowly started to walk up to the group. Umbri stayed in front of Akumu and his eyes slowly closed. Akumu herself slowly placed her hand upon her chest and her eyes closed as well. Both Goroze and Yukunan's eyes started to glow a mixture of blue and green just like Umbris' and Akumus' eyes and a thick dark barrier surrounded their bodies.

"H-Hm! Get ready, they are about to attack!" Yuan said loudly as Goroze charged towards the group head on while Yukunan disappeared from sight.


	15. Don't kill

Genis, Raine, and Colette started to say chants as they was at the back of the group. Mithos charged forward to Goroze, thinking he could take the demon beast out with his new found powers.

Kratos moved his right hand forward while saying. "Wait Mithos!"

Mithos's ignored Kratos warning to come back. The blonde boy's hands was glowing with light mana and he sent his fist forward to Goroze's gut when he got close enough. Goroze's eye color went blue quickly and saw this coming before hand, so he shifted to the left, thus dodging Mithos's attack. The large demon's right knee went up and collided with Mithos's gut. Mithos's eyes widen while blood sprayed out of his mouth and he went towards Kratos due to the impact of Goroze's attack. Kratos caught Mithos and slid back just a bit from the momentum.

"U-Urgh!" Mithos quickly gripped at his stomach now, feeling most of his ribs being broken from just that attack alone. Kratos slowly laid Mithos down to the ground and watch some of the blood run down Mithos's mouth.

"Mithos!" Genis tried to run to Mithos's aid but was stopped by Raine as she pulled him back in between her and Colette.

Raine then said sternly. "Genis, do not forget the plan! This battle is going to be tough so we must stay back and provide support. Mithos isn't dead, so I am able to will heal him, understand?"

Genis slowly nodded and held his Kendama forward. He was began to build up mana to do a spell attack.

* * *

Kratos took note of Goroze's eyes turning blue for an instant before his eye color went back to blueish green. He stared at Goroze's body and also noticed the black barrier around his body.

Just then, Yukunan appeared on the right side of Yuan, about five feet off the ground, and sent his vibrating left foot to Yuan's right cheek. Yuan didn't react on time and the demon boy's foot connected to his cheek, which made him go back ten feet from the rest of the group.

Yuan let out a grunt as he held his left cheek with his right hand and then loudly said, "Colette, provide support for me, Sheena, and Zelos so we can take this brat out! The rest of you guys take out the other three!"

Colette then said. "Angel feathers!" Five rings that was glowing pink shot out of Colette's body and went towards Yukunan in high speeds. Yukunan turned his head and his eye color went blue. Kratos was looking at Yukunan this whole time now as he watched Yukunan shift left and right fast. The Angel feathers missed their target and went up to the air before disappearing.

Zelos came up beside Yukunan, quickly thrusting his sword towards Yukunan's back. His sword went through a transparent image of Yukunan and the real Yukunan leaped off Sheena's head and landed next to Goroze.

Sheena, feeling like she was being mocked, clasped her hands together while having an angered look on her face. Her cards was glowing with light and they disappeared on sight. Goroze and Yukunan simply shifted back from their current spots and stood in front of Umbri and Akumu. The cards appeared where they use to be at before exploding with light.

"W-What?! How did they know?!" Sheena had a shocked facial expression.

Kratos felt the demons was far enough away so they wouldn't be able to make out what he was about to suggested. Kratos said in a somewhat quiet tone. "One of the demons who is just standing there must have the power to see into the future for a few seconds, and able to telepathically tell the other two demons what to do so they don't get harmed."

Tenebrae walked forward while saying. "Yes, he does have that power. The markings on tall demon's back provide him that. I noticed though when I attacked him earlier, he didn't dodge my attack but was not affected by it." Tenebrae looked towards Akumus' markings, which was on her forehead. "I can hardly make out what the female demon's markings are saying but I suspect she is providing the barriers around the other two demons."

"Yes, I was thinking that to. Tenebrae if you can som-" Kratos was interrupted by the ground shaking from Goroze running towards the group again.

"Listen everyone! Lloyd, Genis, Presea, Regal, and I will take care of the large demon! Raine, finish healing Mithos so he can help us! Colette, Sheena, and Zelos stick with Yuan, as he will be attacking Yukunan! Raine after you finish healing Mithos, help Emil, Marta, Tenebrae take out the two demons who just standing there, and do not kill them!" Kratos said loudly as he then jumped forward in the air, attempting to flip over Goroze. Gorozes' large left hand went up and gripped at Kratos's left leg. He then slammed Kratos right back to the ground. Lloyd came up right beside of Goroze. swinging his blades at the large demon, but his attacks was being blocked by the barrier around Goroze.

"Foolish boy!" Goroze then swung his tree trunk like forearms towards Lloyd. Lloyd crossed his twin blades in front of his face mainly and the blades took most of the blow, but Lloyd still went back in the air and crashed into a wooden wall from one of the houses that surround everyone.

* * *

Tenebrae looked towards Emil and Marta, who both nodded and ran forward with Presea and Regal. The four of them was charging towards Goroze. Emil then went to the right side while Marta went to the left side of the field. Regal leaped forward, getting close to Goroze, and sending his right knee towards Goroze's chin while Presea jumped up from the ground and swung her large ax downwards as fast as she could. Goroze placed his right hand onto Regals' rising knee and gripped it tightly, to then swing Regal up towards Presea. Regal collide onto Presea and they both flew away from Goroze.

Genis than loudly said. "Explosion!" A single super heated and heavily dense beam formed high in the sky and was charging towards Goroze. Kratos quickly shifted back from Goroze as the beam hit on top of Goroze, thus a huge explosion was emitted around Goroze.

* * *

Yuan's double edge blade was surrounded by arcs of electricity, in which he went forward with Sheena and Zelos right beside him. Yuan jumped up high in the air, leaping over the explosion and aimed his large blade towards Yukunan. Yuan's Cruxis wings flapped rapidly as he was flying towards the demon boy, who was smirking. Tenebrae disappeared into the shadows while Zelos came up right beside Yukunan and swung his blade multiple times to Yukunan. The boy was easily dodging the attacks while sticking out his tongue towards Zelos.

"Haha! Too slow!" Yukunan mocked at Zelos and quickly flashed step back.

Zelos saw Yuan about to land where he was at and moved out of the way. Yuan landed onto the ground hard, electricity rippled on the ground's surface around him.

"Dang man! Can't give me a warning before you do something like that?" Zelos said with a light sigh while Yuan stood up slowly.

* * *

Tenebrae then appeared right behind Umbri and then simply but quickly bit onto Umrbis' right thigh. Umrbis' now white eyes opened quickly as he screamed out in pain. The tall, thin demon grabbed Tenebrae by his tail and quickly threw him towards a tree. Tenebraes' back slammed on the tree and let out loud whine from his spine almost breaking in half.

"How dare you hurt Tenebrae!" Marta's eyes was watery as she came up beside Umbri, she leaped up and forward, having her spinner cut open the demon's stomach.

Umbris' eyes widened as he held the open wound on his stomach with his hands tightly, trying to stop the blood from spraying out. Umbri then soon passed out from blood lost and the darkness around his body quickly disappeared. The right thigh piece of Apocalypse popped off his thigh and landed onto the ground next to him.

* * *

Emil came up behind Akumu and before he could swing his blade towards the female demon, Yukunan appeared to defend his mom.

"Don't you dare attack my mother!" Yukunan said loudly as his eyes was only green. Emil was blocking and attacking at Yukunan to distract him.

Sheena got in front of Akumu, placing her card onto Akumus' forehead. Akumu eyes opened up quickly and she tried to send a dark beam to Sheena, but Zelos came right beside Sheena and pushed her out of the way of the beam. Zelos then got hit by the beam and slid across the ground.

"Zelos!" Sheena's eyes got misty as she ran to Zelos and got right beside him. She saw the many cuts and bruises on his body.

"I a-am okay. It's j-just scratches.." Zelos had a light smile on his face now.

"Don't talk, you i-idiot." Sheena slowly helped Zelos up from the ground and carried him to the back where Raine, Genis, and Colette was at.

At this time, Akumu tried to put up a barrier around her but it was too late. Sheena's card exploded with light, causing Akumu to be blinded and she screamed. The barriers around Yukunan and Goroze soon disappeared afterwards.

Kratos saw this after the dust clear out from around Goroze and loudly said. "This is our chance!"

* * *

Raine finally finished healing Mithos and she did her incantation, loudly saying. "Ray!" A large, detailed, multicolored platform of symbols appeared on the ground under Akumus' feet and a beam of light stuck down onto her. Akumu hit the ground face first and was out cold from her injuries. The dark aura around her body was slowly disappearing and left calf piece of Apocalypse fell off of her and land onto the ground.

Goroze survived the explosion due to the black barrier was still around him at the time, but the barrier was gone now

Lloyd ran out of the house and got behind Goroze. "Tiger blade beast!" Lloyd said in a battle cry as his blades glowed with blue mana and he swung his blade up upon Goroze's back, sending the large demon up in the air, and then Lloyd sent his blades downwards to Goroze's stomach. His blades clashed onto Goroze's stomach and the Goroze hit the ground hard. Lloyd ended his attack with his blades smacking onto Goroze's rib cage, thus a large, blue representation of a lion's head surrounded the large demon and sent him forward.

Regal got up from the ground, seeing Goroze flying towards him. Colette than provided light mana to Regal, thus Regals' feet was glowing white. He send his left foot upwards and his foot crashed onto Goroze's chin and the light mana went inside of Goroze's body quickly, destroying the darkness in his body. Goroze's eye lids slowly closed and his body mass was normalizing as well. He fell onto the ground. The right calf piece of Apocalypse fell off Goroze's leg and landed onto the ground. Regal slowly picked up the piece off the ground.

* * *

Yukunan disappeared from Emil and appeared in the middle of the field. He looked at Umbri, his father, seeing the man was not moving and there was a small pool of blood under him. Yukunan screamed in of distress now as he loudly said. "You killed my father!"

Mithos at this time slowly tilted his head up as he looked towards Genis.

Yukunan disappeared from anyone's sights and appeared in front of Genis. Mithos's eyes widen as he saw Yukunan's fist collided onto Genis's stomach. Yukunan disappeared once again.

Raine screamed out loud. "Genis!" Tears fell down her cheeks as she caught the half elf boy before he landed onto the ground. Raine quickly collapsed onto her knees to the ground, having Genis's head upon her thighs. Genis's eyes was wide open and mostly white due to him being near death.

Mithos instantly appeared right beside Genis and Raine, tears falling down his cheeks also. "Genis! Please d-don't be dead!" Mithos sat there, trembling and crying while everyone else made their way to Raine and Genis.

Yukunan appeared right beside Umbri now and shook his body while saying. "D-Dad, please wake up!"

Mithos heard Yukunan and stood up in a slow manner. Everyone looked towards Mithos. Then out of nowhere, the ground under Mithos's feet broke into pieces.

Kratos than said. "Mithos, calm down! Genis isn't dead! We will be able to heal him, Zelos, and Tenebrae, Mithos!"

Mithos didn't respond to what Kratos said as he slowly hung his head low, thus his blonde bangs covered his now crazed eyes; the same kind of eyes he had when he was killing Pronyma in the past. Mithos than faded from the group. Kratos and Yuan already knew what was about to happen and quickly flew towards Yukunan while Yuan loudly said. "Mithos, don't do it! Yukunan move!"

Mithos appeared behind Yukunan and his arms quickly wrapped around the Yukunan's neck. Yukunan gasped from air as his feet slowly lifted off the ground due Mithos tilting his upper body back a bit. Mithos then looked towards Kratos and Yuan as strong gust of wind hit upon them both, blowing them right back to the rest of the group.

Colette then pleaded to Mithos. "Mithos, please don't kill him! He's a son to that lady and man over there! He's not a true demon or a killer! He's just a child being controlled by Abyssion!"

Kratos observed Mithos's Cruxis crystal and saw that it was fully red. He then said. "I'm not sure any of us will be able to reach to Mithos right now. He lost his composure over the fact of almost losing Genis."

Mithos ignored Colette plead as his grip around Yukunan's neck grew tighter. The dark aura around Yukunan's body quickly disappeared and the boy's face was turning blue due to the lack of oxygen.

"If you want to atone for what you have done in the past, Mithos, then do not kill him! Don't give in to that evil and darkness in your mind and soul! You're not who you use to be in the past, you are better right now!" Lloyd said loudly with passion in his voice.

Everyone watched Mithos drop Yukunan to the ground now and turn to look at them. He then soon walked towards the group while his Cruxis Crystal's color was turning green once again. Mithos knew he just broke his promise that he made with Genis and his eyes wasn't crazed anymore but more saddened. Mithos slowly sat down adjacent from Raine as his hands slowly gripped at Genis's left hand while Raines' hands was gripping at Genis's right hand as both of them was healing him together.

Marta and Emil ran from the group and got to where Tenebrae. Marta slowly got onto her knees and huffed, seeing Tenebrae slightly twitch every now and then. "D-Don't worry, I am going to heal you." Marta said as she placed her hands upon Tenebraes' body and her hands glowed white. Emil placed his hands onto Marta's shoulders as he was behind her.

Zelos was laying on the ground next to Raine and Sheena was right beside him. Zelos saw Sheenas' worried facial expression and he slowly placed his slightly bloody hand onto her cheek and he gave her a soft smile. Sheena saw his smile and her hands gripped at his hand that was on her cheek.

Kratos slowly went up to Zelos and said. "I will heal you first and then you can help me heal the others, okay?"

Zelos slowly nodded and Kratos began to heal Zelos now.


	16. The healing process

While Kratos was healing Zelos with Sheena beside them, Presea and Regal were picking up the four pieces of Apocalypse that was scattered all over the field.

Regal made his way to where Yukunan and Umbri was at and got onto his right knee next to them. He saw Yukunan not moving and also saw the small pool of blood under Umbri. So with some concern, Regal slowly turned Yukunan onto his back and he pressed his index and middle finger upon the boy's neck. He did the same with Umbri.

Regal felt one of the main veins in the Yukunans' and Umbris' throat pulse normally and Regal sighed in relieve. "Good, they're alive."

Just then, Presea walked up beside Regal and asked. "Are they alive?"

Regal turned his head to looked at Presea slightly and gave her a simple nod before standing straight up. He turned to look down at Presea, who was holding the two calf pieces of Apocalypse. Regal was holding the two thigh pieces of it.

"Lets check on Tenebrae." Regal then walked towards the direction where Tenebrae, Marta, and Emil was at. Presea walking beside him. Marta was seen crying silently due her being very happy hearing Tenebrae breathing more easily.

Emil slowly turned around to look at Regal and Presea, he already knew what they was about to ask and he answered. "Tenebrae is going to be okay for the most part. We're not exactly sure if he's back is going to heal correctly though."

Presea's eyes then focus on Tenebrae. "Do you think he's going to be paralyzed?"

Marta flinched when hearing Presea and she quickly shouted back. "No, he won't be paralyze! How can you think like that?!"

Regal blinked while Presea kept looking at Tenebrae. Regal then said. "Marta, calm down. Presea is only wondering."

Marta closed her eyes, remembering that Presea is a mostly emotionless woman, as it is part of her personality. Marta softly said. "Sorry Presea.. just a little stressed.."

Presea nodded to Marta before turning around and made her way to the rest of the group. Regal soon followed behind her after patting Marta's right shoulder, trying to reassure her that everything is going to be okay.

* * *

Kratos finally finished healing Zelos and soon walked away from him to heal Goroze. Zelos sat up slowly with Sheena aiding him on doing so.

The red hair former chosen gripped his forehead with his right hand and sighed while looking towards Sheena. He had that cocky but kind smile on his face while his red bangs covered his right eye just a bit.

Sheena saw the smile and she smiled slightly before her facial expression would turn angry. "Zelos, why did you push me out of the way of the attack?! I can defend myself y'know! But, being who you are, you got in my way!"

Zelos shrugged his shoulders before chuckling some. "It was out of instinct I suppose. I had the need to protect you so you won't get hurt."

Sheena cheeks had a slight red tint on them and they puffed out just a bit. She was about to say something back to Zelos, but a pair of arms wrapped around her shoulders. The arms was that of Zelos's and they pulled her close. Sheena's left cheek was upon his chest while his hands rubbed her back, trying to calm her down. This action only caused Sheena blush a little more and her hands softly gripped Zelos's sides.

Zelos's eyes then looked up to night sky and he smiled more. "I am okay now, Sheena. No more yelling."

* * *

Kratos finished healing Goroze. The old man blinked a few times as he vision was slowly coming back to him. When he was able to see clearly soon and his eyes looked towards Kratos.

"W... What has h-happened here?" Goroze asked while slowly sitting up. He saw Hima mostly destroyed due to the battle that took place.

Kratos blinked a few times, he then assumed their ex opponents lost all of their memory between the time they was being controlled by demons to now. "You and your family was being controlled by demons and you all killed every villager that lived here. Me and everyone else had to fight you and your family. The demons have left your and your family's bodies."

Goroze shook his head and chuckled. He first thought Kratos was lying but as soon as his eyes met up with Kratos's serious eyes, his smile quickly dropped. Goroze was breathing fast as he would look left and right, trying to find his son, daughter in law, and grandson.

"The rest of your family is behind you." Kratos then walked away from Goroze and made his way to where Akumu was at so he can heal her as well.

Goroze then turned around, seeing Yukunan and Umbri laying next to each other. He quickly crawled to them and his face turned red from rapid frustration and sadness. He thought they both was dead.

Kratos then said. "They're not dead."

Goroze nodded and felt a little better. His hands upon his grandson's and son's head while praying.

Zelos then made his way to where Goroze was at, after he felt he made Sheena feel better. He slowly kneel down before Goroze and looked down at Yukunan and Umbri. His hands started to glow a yellowish white color and he loomed them over their bodies, he started to heal them.

* * *

Sheena made her way to the rest of the group, who was surrounding Raine and Mithos. They both was still healing Genis.

Mithos's facial expression was just as stressed and frustrated as Raines'. Tears rolling down the blonde boy's cheeks as mixed emotions seemed to conflict his mind all at once. Just the thought of him breaking the promise he made with Genis felt like weights being placed on his shoulders; it was unbearable.

Yuan was looking at Mithos mainly as he was wondering. The recent memory of him being pushed back by Mithos creating a gust of wind from nowhere kept replaying in his mind over and over. He knew, once again, Mithos was stronger than him and this thought made him shake slightly.

Coffee was licking at Genis's cheek, sensing he was about to wake up. Genis's eye lids slowly opened and he saw familiar faces all around him.

"Genis, you're awake!" Lloyd said as he then sat down beside Mithos. Lloyd smiled brightly at Genis, who was blinking a few times and finally smiled back.

Mithos on the other hand didn't have a smile and tilted his head down so his blonde bangs could cover his misty eyes. Genis saw this and asked. "Mithos... Why are you not smili- urgh.." Genis's felt a sharp pain in his stomach and huffed while his eyes looked towards his big sister, Raine.

Raine held back her tears and kept healing her little brother. "Don't try to talk or make any movements. You're still injured, but don't worry. I will heal you as fast I can."

Genis nodded and gave Raine a smile for while before his gaze slowly went back to Mithos. Mithos then then turned his head when he felt Genis's eyes upon him. Genis's smile went away and he lightly sighed due to him not knowing what was wrong.

* * *

At this time, Kratos finished healing Akumu and explained to her what has happened. They both went over to where Zelos, Goroze, Yukunan and Umbri was at. She then burst into tears and leaned on Goroze's shoulders. She couldn't bear seeing her son, Yukunan, and her husband, Umbri in such a state. Soon after though, Umbri was fully healed and he opened his eyes. His stomach didn't have the deep gash that Marta caused to him in the battle and he sat up slowly to look towards Goroze and Akumu. Umbris' arms then wrapped around his grandfather and wife tightly. Akumu felt more reassured then ever now

Zelos was now focusing on Yukunan and then he flinched slightly. "Hnn..."

Kratos's eyes looked down at Zelos and asked. "Something wrong?"

"I err... I can't heal something in this boy." Zelos's hands then didn't have the yellowish white glow around them anymore and he sighed.

Goroze heard Zelos and instantly shouted. "What do you mean you can't heal something in Yukunan?! What's wrong with him?!"

Akumu and Umbri then turned to Zelos for an explanation. Lloyd and everyone else heard Goroze and looked towards them, so did Mithos.

Zelos looked to the side slowly in a slight sadden facial expression. "Yukunan has brain damage... I can't heal something so complex as a brain."

Akumus' heart sank when hearing this and her eyes looked lost. She didn't know what to say. Just tears falling down her cheeks. Goroze tried to her comfort while Umbri looked down at his only son. Yukunan's eye lids opened now but only stared up at the sky. He didn't seem to respond to Umbri calling out his name and shaking him.

Zelos then looked towards Kratos. "Do you think you can heal Yukunan fully, Kratos?"

"No. Due to the fact I can't heal like that as well. And to add to it, with the world's mana being in fluxed, just healing takes a lot more out of me than normal." Kratos said while looking down at Yukunan.

"Who in the hell did this to my son?!" Umbri was angry and stood up quickly.

No one else answered his question. Mithos heard Umbri and he slowly turned his back now. Umbri saw this and then he pointed to Mithos. "It was you who did this! You dirty, damned, useless half elf! You'll pay for this!"

Genis flinched at Umbris' strong words. Yuan gaze turned back to Mithos, seeing the boy slightly tremble as he just sat there.

"Hey, don't say that! He didn't mean to!" Sheena attempting to defend Mithos.

Umbri shook his head. He clearly wanted revenge, "Damn lies. All that half elves do it cause pain and suffering to others! Look at what he did to my son!"

"Enough!" Lloyd then stood up. He didn't want to hear anymore such foul words being expressed. "I am sorry that your son isn't going to be fully healed, but he's still alive. Mithos wasn't thinking straight and he could had killed him, but he didn't. Mithos is a good person, please believe me when I say that."

Zelos then stood up and stood in front of Umbris' view, "Look, chill man. We're going to do everything we can to relocate you all somewhere safe. A place where there's a hospital and what not."

Umbri slightly nodded before saying. "Fine. And that half elf doesn't deserve the name Mithos. Mithos is a true hero from long ago. Mithos wouldn't do such a horrible thing to a boy."

Mithos heard enough and stood up to walk inside of the Inn behind the group. Genis watched Mithos walk off and closed his eyes, hoping he can be healed soon so he can go to talk to Mithos.

"Well your boy was a demon at the time, sir, and he attacked one of our friends and almost killed him." Umbri turned slightly to look at Kratos when he said that and let out a slight sigh while nodding. He then sat in front of his wife and grandfather.

"Zelos, I want you and Sheena to use two of the Rheairds to fly to Palmacosta. Tell Neil to send some of his men over here to help this family move out of here and get into one of their shelters." Kratos asked.

Zelos then nodded and walked back to the group. Kratos soon followed right behind Zelos.

* * *

Zelos went up to Sheena and asked. "We need to go to Palmacosta. We need to get this family to move out of here." Sheena nodded to what he said. Zelos explained to everyone else where he and Sheena was going. With goodbyes from the group, Zelos and Sheena left Hima with their Rheairds.

Kratos and Yuan went to Presea and Regal. They both put the four pieces of Apocalypse down to the dirt ground.

"I suggest you rest a little bit before taking on the evil in your heart." Yuan said to Regal.

"Yes. I should. I assume the battle that will be in my mind soon will be a much greater challenge then our previous battle with the family." Regal then picked up the pieces of Apocalypse and stood up with Presea.

Emil and Marta then got back to the rest of the group now. Emil having Tenebrae in his arms.

Colette went to them and had a concerned look on her face. "How is he?"

Marta smiled while wiping her eyes. "He'll be okay. He just needs to rest."

Colette then smiled after hearing such good news before saying. "We're going into the inn behind us. We're all resting there for a little bit."

Emil and Marta nodded. They soon followed right behind their friends who were going into the Inn. Raine had Genis in her arms while going inside. Kratos went back to the family and guild them into the Inn afterwards.


	17. Lingering

Inside of the Inn, Umbri and his family was laying Yukunan down onto a bed in a room in the second floor. Marta and Emil was in a different room on the second floor, watching Tenebrae sleep. Everyone else was in the first floor. Raine sitting on a bench with Genis laying his head upon her lap.

"Hmm..." Genis would periodically look towards Mithos. Seeing him sitting on a couch that was away from the rest of the group, his head hung low and he didn't move much.

Raine saw Genis's worried facial expression. "Want to talk to him?"

Genis's eyes then looked up at his big sister and he nodded.

"Alright, you seem to be doing better. Just don't make any sudden movements, understand?" Raine then leaned down to softly kiss her little brother's head. Genis slowly got up from the bench and made his way to Mithos. Lloyd was looking out the front window and saw the reflection of Genis and Mithos, so he simply watched.

Mithos heard foot steps coming towards him. He looked down at the ground to see Genis's feet in front of his. Mithos's heart began to pound, clearly nervous but he didn't show that when he looked up to see Genis. He moved to the side on the couch so Genis could see down next to him.

Before Genis could even say anything, Mithos quickly said. "I broke our promise, I am so sorry. I... I don't know what happened... Just the shock of how you looked when death was just right next to you.. I feared I wasn't going to even save you, just like I didn't save Martel's life." Mithos then quickly turned his head, having his hair cover the side of his face as he looked away from Genis, "I really wanted to kill that boy.."

"But you didn't." Genis then looked up to the ceiling as he continued to speak, "You didn't kill him because you are trying to do the right thing. You actually listened to Lloyd and the others pleading for you not to kill him. And I know if you was the old Mithos, you would had just ignored them. It's okay that you broke the promise because you have proved to me that you are trying to be a better person."

Mithos looked towards Genis. The white haired boy looked back at him and smiled while leaning back onto the couch. Genis then said. "Remember, you can protect the ones you care about without killing. There are always better ways to protect, okay?"

Mithos slowly nodded and leaned back onto the couch. His eyes looking up at the ceiling now, his shoulder was on Genis's shoulder. He felt a lot better now, knowing he was forgiven by his best friend. Lloyd saw this on the reflection in the window and smiled.

* * *

At this time, Regal walked up to Lloyd and asked. "Wish to aid me, Presea, Kratos and Yuan with assembling Apocalypse?"

Lloyd nodded and he followed Regal to a room that was in the first floor of the Inn. When Lloyd got into the room, he saw Presea trying to fit the pieces of the demonic weapon together on the bed. Kratos had his arms crossed as he watched from a slight distance as he was next to the fire place in the room. Yuan was sitting on a chair that was near the bed, observing closely.

Lloyd walked up to the bed and looked down at the weapon pieces. Presea looked up at the teenage boy and asked. "We can't figure out why the pieces won't lock together. Do you think you know why?"

Lloyd blinked a few times before placing his right hand under his chin. After a few seconds, he made a simple suggestion. "Maybe... the pieces can only be together again if you try to lock them together with dark mana being the glue."

Yuan chuckled at the idea while Presea sighed and looked back down at the bed. Lloyd felt a little embarrassed and scratched the back of his head.

Kratos walked up beside Lloyd and said. "No, that actually makes sense."

"It does?" Yuan was confused and looked towards Kratos.

"Yes. I remember seeing some dark shadows leaving the family's bodies after they was defeated and that's when the pieces of the weapon broke off of them. The weapon must not have any kind of dark mana inside to make it be active and whole again." Kratos then picked up one of the pieces of Apocalypse, sensing no kind of energy emitting out of it. Lloyd smiled brightly from his dad being able to defend his idea.

"If this is true, then we need to find out where those shadows have gone to. But looking for something like that will take too much time" Regal said with a sigh.

"We already have someone who is basically the embodiment of darkness. Tenebrae." Presea slowly stood up and look up at Lloyd.

"But he is still injured and I am sure Marta will have a fuss about it when we ask Tenebrae to do something like that." Lloyd then crossed his arms over his chest.

Kratos nodded. "True, but we have no choice. We all are on a fixed schedule here. We have no other choice. But we don't have to ask now. We can ask in about two hours, so lets use that time to rest."

Lloyd, Kratos and Yuan left the room while Regal and Presea stayed. Kratos then explained to everyone else in the first floor about the plan.

* * *

Raine looked towards Colette, seeing the girl sitting there, thinking to herself. Raine made her way to where Colette was at and asked. "Are you worried about the family?"

Colette nodded to the question. "Yes. Especially that boy.."

"Well, want to go with me to go check on them?" Raine asked and Colette slowly stood up. She gave her professor a kind smile. They both went to the second floor and Raine lightly knocked on the door.

"..Come in." Umbri said in a low tone.

Raine opened the door and walked inside of the room with Colette beside her. They both made their way to the bed. Akumu was sitting on a chair next to the bed, her hands clinging to Yukunan's hand while Umbri was standing next to her. Goroze was watching on the side of the bed.

When Colette got close enough, she quickly took a step back and Raine saw this. "What's wrong, Colette?"

"Something is... inside of his head. Eating away at his mental health. Something that is far more menacing than what he had before." Colette placed her hands upon her head and slowly her face tensed. The darkness in Yukunan's mind was more active due to Colette's illumination light being in the room. Yukunan's eyes was more wide open and he started to shake on the bed.

"What's h-happening to him?!" Akumu cried out as she gripped Yukunan's hand tighter.

Colette quickly got to the side of the bed and she placed her hands upon Yukunan's cheeks. Her eyes still closed as he began to concentrate. Soon after, Yukunan's body relaxed and his eyes closed.

Colette stumbled back onto a wall and slowly slide down to sit on the floor. She was already sweating and breathing fast. Raine ran to Colette, clearly worried. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"Y-Yes, I am okay. I was a-able to subside the darkness that is still lingering in his mind for a while but it will return again. Yukunan doesn't have brain damage just yet though, but he will after one day or so." Colette then gripped onto Raines' shoulder and slowly stood up with her.

Akumu smiled slightly, knowing there is still time to get her son back. She then asked. "Do you think you can destroy whatever inside of his head?"

Colette shook her head. "I can't do it alone. I need Tenebrae since he's able to control any type of darkness."

"Okay. Just like what Kratos said, we shall wait two hours before asking Tenebrae for his help. He's going to need his rest more than ever since he'll need to do two things now" Raine said and Colette nodded. The family heard Raine and they agreed as well.

* * *

Mithos got up from the couch now and looked up just a bit while asking Genis. "I want to check on that darkness cat."

Genis tilted his head to the side and chuckled from Mithos not knowing Tenebraes' name, "Do you mean you want to check on Tenebrae? He's a Centurion of darkness."

Mithos slowly turned around to look at Genis. "He's able to control darkness completely?"

Genis stood up from the couch and shrugged his shoulders. "Not completely. He's able to do darkness element based attacks, but he's main power being able to control all monsters who are dark in this world."

Mithos nodded and thought for a second. He then asked. "He wasn't able to control the family when their minds was taken over by that darkness, Why is that?"

Genis then hypothesize. "Because that darkness isn't from this world. It must be from the world of Niflheim. Heh, lets go check up on Tenebrae like you asked."

Both of the boys got to the second floor and Genis knocked at the door softly.

Marta, who was sitting next to Emil on a couch next to the bed where Tenebrae was still resting on, slowly got up from the couch and walked up to the door. Her right hand grabbed the door's knob and opened the door. Her light blue eyes peered down to see the two half elf boys and she smiled. "Hey you two. Is everything okay?"

Genis nodded to her question. "Mhm. Mithos and I wish to check up on Tenebrae. Is that okay?"

Marta paused for a second and then said. "Yes, it is okay. He's still hurting and he won't be able to talk much." Marta then moved away from the door and made her way back Emil, sitting next to him.

Genis walked in first and Mithos followed right behind after closing the door.

Tenebrae slowly opened his eyes, seeing Marta and Emil first. He then looked down a bit to see Mithos and Genis right next to them. His tail slightly wagged while saying. "H-Heh... Hello you guys."

Genis smiled. "Hey Tenebrae. What you did during that battle was very brave of you. Without you being able to distract Umbri, we would had lost."

Tenebrae chuckle. "It wasn't much. I am glad I was able to help though." Tenebraes' focus then went to Mithos, "Mithos. Are you feeling okay? Emil told me what happened earlier."

Mithos's eyes looked down and he nodded. He didn't say a word back to Tenebrae.

Tenebrae saw this. "It's okay Mithos, don't be ashamed by what you did. You didn't kill the boy after all."

"No... But I gave that boy brain damage and I also made the dad hate half elves even more.." Mithos slowly looked towards Tenebrae in a sadden facial expression.

Tenebrae shook his head. "It's okay Mithos. You didn't give Yukunan brain damage."

Genis blinked before asking. "He didn't?"

Tenebrae nodded. "There's darkness still lingering in Yukunan''s mind that I sense. The darkness is the combination of all four shadows that controlled him and his family before. It some how got right back into the boy after you let him go Mithos. It's eating away at his mental health, but it isn't permanent just yet."

Mithos's eyes widen and Genis slowly looked towards Mithos. Emil then asked. "So there's still a chance for the boy to live a normal life, right?"

"Yes, and I have a plan on how to get rid of the darkness. I will need Mithos's help, not only for support but also I know if he helps to, the family will see he's not a bad guy. So in a way, it will be like killing two birds with one stone." Tenebrae then groaned in pain

Marta got up from the couch and placed her hands upon Tenebraes' side, "Tenebrae, relax. We can do the plan in a bit."

Genis felt like he might as well ask Tenebrae about the other part of the plan. "Tenebrae, Apocalypse won't stay together without any dark mana inside of it. Do you think there's a way for you apply dark mana into it?"

Marta flinched slightly and she had a slight angered facial expression. Tenebrae saw this and gave her a smile. "Calm down, Marta. And yes, I know of a way to help you guys with that as well."

Genis was surprised that Marta didn't yell at the idea. "Don't worry Marta, we will be doing all of that in two hours. That's what Kratos told us." Genis then turned to look at Mithos, seeing the blonde boy having a smile on his face. Seeing the smile made Genis smile with him.

"Genis, this means I have a chance to save someone's life." Mithos then hugged his best friend tightly. Genis hugged Mithos right back and cheered with him silently.

* * *

Zelos and Sheena saw Palmacosta coming into view of the horizon. Sheena then said. "Uhh Zelos... t-thanks for protecting me. I was never able to say that to you before and I a-am sorry." Sheena then looked down, slightly blushing.

Zelos turned his head to look at Sheena before smiling. "No problem. Even though you yell and beat me up for almost anything I say to you, there will be no instance where I wouldn't try to protect you."

Sheena then looked towards Zelos now, blinking in slight disbelief. "..R...Really?"

Zelos nodded. He then moved his Rheaird close to Sheena's Rheaird. Zelos looked forward now and so did Sheena as well. She had a slight smile on her face before saying. "I see Palmacosta"

Zelos and Sheena eventually landed their Rheairds in front of the Governor Neil's placed. Sheena looked around her surroundings, seeing the common folk walk about. Something seem off about the people to her, but before she could think of what it was, she heard the two huge double doors open. Her focus went to seeing two guards opening the doors and Neil slowly walk down the steps to greet Sheena and Zelos.

"Ah Sheena and Zelos. It's been a while, hasn't it? I was getting worried about you and your group ever since we was stuck by two mysterious earthquakes" Neil said while shaking their hands.

Sheena nodded. "Don't worry, we all are alright. We don't have much time to explain to you why the earthquakes happened. We need you help, though. Hima is destroyed and there's a family without a home there. Is it okay if your relocation party can go over there and place them into one of your shelters?"

"Of course. I need to send the letter to the party and they will be at Hima within an hour. Please, come on in." Neil then turned around to walk back inside of the building. Zelos followed right behind the male while Sheena did so afterwards slowly, due to her looking back at the people walk. She just couldn't shake of the feeling that something is wrong.

When all three of them was in the building, the guards closed the door. Neil then said. "Please have a seat, it won't take long."

Sheena and Zelos sat down onto chair that was next to a dark wooden door that now closed off anyone from going into the basement. When Sheena saw Neil and the guards leave into a different room, she sat up on the chair looked towards Zelos. "Zelos, something doesn't feel right here."

Zelos looked towards Sheena. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know exactly but the people that was walking in the court yard, they all was walking in slow and strange manner." Sheena then looked towards the dark wooden door next to her.

"You know it is pretty late. They most likely tired, like I am." Zelos yawned before placing his hands behind his head and he leaned on the chair while his eyes closed.

Sheena got up from her chair and examined the door. Her hands was feeling the door's surface as it was very bumpy to her hands due to craved in symbols on it's surface. She blinked, "This door doesn't match anything kind of decoration in this building.." Sheena said to herself quietly.

Zelos opened his eyes and looked towards Sheena, hearing her mumble. "What did you say Sheena?"

"Zelos, help me open this door." Sheena asked as she pulled on the door, attempting to open it.

The red haired male sighed and got up from the chair. He began to pull on the door's knob as well and eventually the door swung up a little faster than both of them expected, which through them off a bit.

"Eh... okay then." Zelos slowly placed his right hand onto the hilt of his blade, being ready to attack anything that was a threat to him and Sheena. They both walked down the stairs to the basement. It seem like the stairs went on forever.

They eventually made it to the basement and they both had shocked expressions on their faces from what they was seeing. They were seeing one of the Devil's arms weapons which was the Gates of Hell cards. The dark red, demonic pair of cards was floating off the ground, being covered in a green color aura while there were three demons was surrounding the cards, as if doing a ritual.

Zelos was attempting to pull out his sword slowly but accidentally made a metallic noise. The demons heard the noise and quickly turned to look at Sheena and Zelos.

"Wow really, Zelos?!" Sheena looked at Zelos angrily.

Zelos quickly rubbed the back of his head with his other hand and chuckled nervously. Just then the three demons rushed towards Sheena and Zelos.


	18. Free the mind

Back at Hima, Tenebrae slowly opened his eyes after resting for about ten minutes. Mithos and Genis had already left the room while Emil was cleaning his sword and Marta was sleeping heavily on the couch due to being tired. With a few silent groans and trembles, Tenebrae slowly sat up on the bed and looked to the left to see out of the window. He smiled at the sight he was seeing; which was a beautiful, clear night sky with the full moon. Tenebrae then turned his eyes to look at Coffee sleeping right beside him as well.

After a few seconds had passed, Emil noticed Tenebrae being awake. "Tenebrae, you shouldn't be up. You're not fully healed yet."

"Yes, I know. But I couldn't sleep any longer." Tenebraes' tail lightly wagged as Colette and Raine slowly opened the door and walked in. Emil and Tenebrae turned their heads to look at them both.

Colette had a wide smile on her face, seeing Tenebrae doing much better than before. She ran up to Tenebrae and lightly hugged him. Raine followed behind Colette while looking towards Marta, seeing her sleeping.

"How are you feeling, Tenebrae?" Colette asked.

"I am alright. My back very sore though." Tenebrae then looked towards Raine, "You look like you need to ask me something."

Raine crossed her arms over her chest slowly. "I was going to ask you something later on, due to Kratos wanting to ask you after two hours, but Colette insisted we ask you now."

Tenebrae then turned his attention back towards Colette.

"That kid in the other room. There is something in his head that is eating away at his mental health. It's pure darkness. I was wondering if you can help us destroy it right now." Colette's smiled disappeared while saying that.

Tenebrae nodded. "Yes, I will help right now. Also, I explained what was most likely in his head to Mithos and Genis as well when they was in here."

"You did?" Colette's smile soon returning.

"Mhm. I told them that it is the combination of all the darkness that was inside each family member. I also told Mithos that he can help me get rid of it and show the family that he isn't a bad person." Tenebrae slowly stood up on his fours on the bed.

"That is a very good idea, hehe." Colette than stood up straight and looked back towards Raine.

"We should tell Kratos and the others about what's going to happen. Lets not tell Marta though as I fear she will say no to this." Raine said while she walked out of the room. Colette soon followed right behind her.

"Wait Tenebrae, you're not healed all the way yet. Are you sure you want to do this right now?" Emil had some concerns.

Tenebrae nodded to Emil's question. "Yes, I am sure. The sooner we do this, the better the results will be for Yukunan."

Tenebrae slowly got off the bed the bed and slightly flinched and stumbled. Emil then came to Tenebrae and kneel down to him. "Maybe I should carry you, hm?"

"Y-Yeah, I think that's a good idea." Tenebrae usually didn't like to be carried, but knew he wouldn't be able to move much right now.

Emil let Tenebrae be on his back and he carried him out of the room. While doing this, Emil was surprised at how heavy Tenebrae was. "Gosh, you're heavy."

"You calling me fat?" Tenebraes' tail lightly smacked Emil's leg.

* * *

Emil and Tenebrae then lightly chuckled together as they slowly walked inside of the room where Yukunan and his family were in. Soon after everyone else was in the room except for Marta, who was still sleeping.

Mithos was standing next to Genis, Raine, and the others on one side of the bed while Yukunan's family was on the other side of the bed.

"Place me on the bed, Emil." Tenebrae said.

Emil slowly placed Tenebrae at the foot of the bed. Tenebrae looked towards Umbri and calmly said. "I will need the help of Colette and Mithos, is th-"

Tenebrae was interrupted by Umbri. "The girl can help, but that half elf will not!"

Mithos expression got slightly angered while Genis said. "Mister, please give him a chance to prove to you that he's sorry for what he did."

Umbri then gazed at Genis. "I said no! Your kind has brought nothing but chaos and trouble to others! Why don't you two just wait outside of the room?!"

Raine snapped and quickly stood in front of Genis and Mithos. She placed her hands upon the side of the bed and leaned forward. Her demeanor was serious. "You hate us half elves? Fine, go ahead and hate us as much as you want to, Umbri, but I am very shocked and disappointed that you lack the necessary skills to be a good father. A parent would do anything to protect and make sure their offspring is safe no matter what the risk is! You stand here before us, refusing additional help to save your son from darkness he's suffering through right now all because you believe all half elves are bad beings! What makes you so high and mighty, huh?! Humans in this world had done just as much bad or even worse than half elves, yet I do not say 'Well all humans are evil because this certain group of humans did evil things'. I and everyone else will not force you to accept Mithos's help but just know that if Tenebrae and Colette fail upon ridding the darkness from Yukunan's mind, it might be because Mithos couldn't help due to you being so caught up of thinking half elves can't do nothing but hurt."

Everyone was looking towards Raine. Umbri slowly leaned on the bed in the same manner that Raine did and said. "I know what's best for my son's will being. I trust that cat and the girl way more than that half elf! Your kind makes me sick!"

Raines' facial expression was more angered than serious and she gripped her staff tighter. She wanted to beat the living hell out of Umbri at this point. Akumu than softly spoke up. "Umbri... maybe we should let Mithos help.."

Umbri slowly looked towards Akumu, making her look away out of fear. Goroze didn't say a word and looked away as well. Raine saw this and chuckled a bit.

Umbri quickly looked back at Raine and loudly shouted. "What's so funny?!"

"It's funny that you seem to force your will upon your family. I assume they have no say into any family matters right? Let me also assume that you're teaching Yukunan to hate half elves to, right? You want him to grow up to be the pitiful human that you are right now, hm? I mean, that's if he'll grow up correctly due to him not getting all the help he can get now all because of his racist father refusing help." Raine then gave Umbri a smirk.

Umbris' eyes then quickly widen and he would attempt to slap Raine, but in an instant, Raine and her group had their weapons out and aimed it towards Umbri, making the male stop.

"I suggest you think twice before hitting her, Umbri. Raine, he doesn't want to listen to reason. Unlike him, I want to save Yukunan with all the help we have right now so Mithos will help Tenebrae and Colette, whether he likes it or not." Kratos said as he looked straight at Umbris' eyes.

Mithos turned his head to look up towards Kratos. "But... he doesn't w-"

"It doesn't matter what Umbri wants, Mithos. What matters right now is Yukunan's health and well being. What Umbri has to say is irrelevant now and has no power here. Mithos, my student, I believe in you. I believe you can do right and this is your chance to save someone." Kratos then slowly looked down towards Mithos and smiled at him.

Mithos blinked a few times and slightly smiled back. Soon everyone moved their weapons away from Umbris' neck. The male moved back and sat down next to Akumu.

"Now then, we can get started." Tenebrae moved to where he was sitting next to Yukunan. He looked down at the boy's face and slowly closed his eyes while placing his paw at the boy's forehead. He soon flinched and his ears went low to his head, "C-Colette and Mithos, place your h-hand upon Yukunan's forehead."

Colette and Mithos went to the side of the bed and placed their palms onto Yukunan's head as well and they closed their eyes.

* * *

Soon, they opened their eyes and they was in void of darkness. They looked around and saw Tenebrae already ahead of them.

"Come, the source is this way." Tenebrae said as he move forward. Colette and Mithos followed right behind him.

Tenebrae than asked Colette. "What did you see or feel when you peered into Yukunan's mind?"

"I saw nothing but darkness, but my surroundings gave me this... unsettling feeling. Like I was being watched by someone" Colette looked towards Tenebrae as she continued on, "Now though, I don't have that feeling anymore."

Mithos then brought a somewhat random question. "Colette... do you think your trail with conquering your darkness was... a little too easy?"

Colette slowly looked down, "Now that you think about it... it actually was. I mean, look at how much we have to do just to get Apocalypse. With the Evil eye Chakrams, it was really fast for some reason."

Mithos then contemplated. "Why do you think that is?"

"I am not sure." Colette sighed.

"It might be because she isn't finished yet. I am starting to believe that this darkness has something to do with Regal and her." Tenebrae said.

"But I defeated my dark self. How can that be?" Colette asked Tenebrae.

"Also, even she didn't beat it, how did it travel out of her head and get to Hima way before us?" Mithos also asked to Tenebrae.

"Darkness travels just as fast and just as mysterious as light does." Tenebrae said to Colette and Mithos.

Colette nodded slightly and sighed once much, in a more sadden tone. Feeling like she failed. Before Mithos could say anything to cheer Colette up, he was tackled by a dark figure.

"Mithos!" Colette then pulled out her light Chakrams. Even before she could help Mithos, she was tackled down as well by another dark figure.

The figure holding Mithos down was an evil from of Regal. This version of Regal had pure black eyes, eroding blue skin with dark purple veins covering the skin's surface, his clothes was mostly burnt and cut. The figure that was on Colette was Solette. Solettes' appearance was more damaged due to the previous fight she had with Colette.

Colette was grasping as Solettes' hands were gripping tightly upon her neck now while Regal was landing left and right punches upon Mithos's face.

* * *

Outside of Yukunan's mind, everyone was watching Mithos slightly kneel as blood was coming out of his mouth and nose. Colette's face was turning slightly blue and she made some choking noises.

"What's happening to them?!" Genis was slightly panicking. Seeing Mithos and Colette getting hurt but not opening their eyes.

Kratos was observing. "They have to be fighting that darkness. It has to be very powerful to being hurting them this much."

"Should... we wake them?" Emil wondered.

"No. If we do, we might cause something bad to happen. They have to overcome it." Yuan said.

"Urgh... this is torment to watch them being hurt and can't be their to help." Lloyd tensed up, wishing he could be of help.

Tenebraes' eyes then opened and he looked towards Regal. "Quickly, get the Apocalypse pieces! When you got the pieces, place them on my paw!"

Regal nodded and rushed out of the room. When he left, Tenebrae closed his eyes once again.

* * *

Inside of Yukunan's mind, Solette was laughing loudly while she kept choking Colette, "You thought you won the battle against me?! Stupid girl!"

Colette then placed her Chakrams onto Solettes' chest. Soon, Solettes' clothes was burning like acid and she quickly got off Colette.

Meanwhile, Mithos kicked the evil Regal off. The blonde boy slowly got up and huffed while wiping the blood off his mouth. Evil Regal landed onto his feet and rushed towards Mithos. Right before evil Regal could get close to Mithos, Tenebrae came up behind evil Regal, wrapping his tail around the male's neck.

"Now Regal!" Tenebrae loudly said outside of Yukunan's mind. Regal quickly put the four pieces of Apocalypse onto Tenebraes' paw and moved back.

Evil Regal slowly disappeared now, being transferred into Apocalypse with the aid of Tenebrae. Mithos then quickly went towards Solette and placed his hands upon Solettes' cheeks. Soon, he was giving Solette a huge dose of light mana, making the girl shake violently and scream out in pain.

"C-Colette now! I won't be able t-to hold her back long!." Mithos said as he saw Solettes' hands gripping his wrist, moving his hands from her cheeks.

Colette threw both of her Chakrams to Solette. The Chakrams would hit Solettes stomach and push her up into the air. Colette then made the Chakrams release most of the light that was contain inside of them. The light explosion engulf Solette instantly, finally destroying her completely.

"We d-did it.." Colette said before disappearing. Tenebrae looked at Mithos and nodded. Soon, they both left Yukunan's mind as well.

* * *

Outside of Yukunan's mind, Colette quickly stumbled onto the floor and huffed fast. Lloyd quickly went to her and helped her off the ground.

Mithos moved back from Yukunan and sat down onto a chair next to Genis.

Tenebrae would had groaned since his body is still injured and he used his power. Emil would come to Tenebrae and slowly lifted him up from the bed and carried him to the bench at the back of the room.

Regal grabbed the two leg guards, Apocalypse, from Yukunan's head and placed them onto another chair.

"Are you okay, Mithos?" Genis asked.

"Mhm. I will be okay soon." Mithos lightly smiled at Genis. In which Genis smiled back and nodded.

"So... what just happened?" Lloyd asked, slightly confused. He had Colette's head upon his lap as he sat on the ground.

Tenebrae explained. "I was able transfer the evil version of Regal into Apocalypse. Mithos helped Colette defeat the evil version of her as well. Those two things was in Yukunan's mind, though evil Regal had a lot more power than evil Colette."

Kratos slightly turned his head to indirectly look at Mithos. "Good job."

Mithos looked back at Kratos and smiled at his teacher.

"I... I beat Solette completely. H-Heh. I can't e-even see clearly and I feel light h-headed" Colette said, looking up at Lloyd.

Lloyd was now concerned. "You will be okay, Colette."

"It must be the full effect of destroying the dark side of your personality. It might take some time for your brain to adjust." Raine said as she sat next to Mithos and Genis. Colette nodded to what her professor said.

Kratos, Yuan, Presea, and Umbris' family looked towards Yukunan.

After a few seconds passed, Yukunan opened his eyes and blinked a few times. He turned his head to looked towards his mother first. "M-Mom... what happened?"

"Yukunan!" Akumu busted into tears of joy, knowing her son was back to his old self just by how he talked. She got up from her chair and quickly hugged her son. Goroze and Umbri soon was hugging Yukunan as well.

Yukunan on the other hand was confused as to why his family was hugging him and crying. "Why are you guys crying?"

Kratos then turned to look at everyone else, "We will wait for Zelos and Sheena to return before Regal conquere his darkness."

Everyone nodded and agreed.


	19. Jealousy

The three demons that was going towards Sheena and Zelos look like skeletons and was covered with a dark green aura. Their eyes were nothing but darkness like voids as well. One demon split off to go towards Zelos while the other two went to Sheena.

"Demon fang!" Zelos yelled out loud while swinging his sword upwards in a vertical motion. A small blue shock wave would come out of his blade and race along the ground towards the demon.

The demon easily dodged the attack by shifting onto the right wall. The demon's nails went into the concert wall and it was now rushing to Zelos while roaring. Zelos did a quick spin, attempting to slice the demon in half with his sword. The high flexible demon quickly contorted it's upper body up just in time for the sword to pierce into the wall instead of itself. It then jumped off the wall and knee'd Zelos's nose.

"Arughh!" Zelos stumbled back while holding his now bleeding nose with his hand. Without wasting time, the demon then got onto Zelos, forcing the red hair male to fall onto his back to the cold ground. Zelos was holding the demon back with his sword just barely. The demon was attempting the bite Zelos's face off.

On the left side of the room, the two other demons surrounded Sheena. Sheena pulled out her Acalanatha cards, which were two fire element based cards. One demon went towards her and started to do a series of fast punches and spin kicks towards Sheena. The female ninja shifted and moved from the attacks. She then looked to the side for a split second, seeing the other demon coming to her as well. She leaped backwards, letting the two demons bump into each other and crash onto a wooden crate.

One of the demons picked up the large, heavy crate with ease while standing up. With a loud scream, the demon tossed the crate to Sheena.

"Hmph!" Sheena's eyes widen and she moved to the right, dodging the crate. She then quickly came up to the standing demon and gave it a series of hits with her fire cards upon it's chest, stomach and face. She ended her combo with a drop kick to the demon's face, sending it to the wall.

The other demon attempted to grab Sheena's foot, as it was still laying on the floor. With a quick motion, Sheena's foot lift up to the air and then stepped on the demon's arms. The demon didn't react to this as it couldn't feel pain. The demon then contorted it's lower body in a way where it's feet went towards Sheena's face. This caught her off guard and she was hit, making her fly off from the demon's arms.

The two demons then charged towards Sheena while she was still recovering from the hit. Zelos managed to kick the demon off him, making it fly to the other demons. The three demons collided with one other as a result and stumbled to the side.

"Sheena, are you okay?" Zelos said, being concerned.

"Y-Yeah." Sheena slowly got into her fighting stance. "We need to get the cards ou-" Sheena stopped mid-sentence to see the door swing open. Neil and the two guards was at the doorway. They looked towards Sheena and Zelos before letting out a heart welching scream that shook the basement slightly.

"Enough with the screaming!" Zelos's sword was soon covered with electricity and he screamed out, "Electric dispute!" He slammed his sword down to the ground, the electricity would spread out on the ground, disrupting the ground's atoms, which would then cause the ground's floor to explode upwards. He made sure for the explosion to happen around him and Sheena. Neil, the demons, and the guards all flew upwards with the explosion and went through the solid ceiling of the basement.

"Thank you, Zelos!" Sheena then ran through heavy dust that fogged the destroyed basement. She grabbed the two demonic cards from the air and ran back to Zelos. "Lets get out of here!"

"Right!" Zelos nodded and ran up the stairs that led out of the basement. Sheena followed right behind him. They got to the main room of the governor's office and they saw Neil passed out on the table with the guards and demons passed out in different sections of the room.

Zelos went to the double doors and opened them. "Okay, lets get on our Rheairds and tel- Oh no!" Zelos and Sheena stood there at the stairs that led to the courtyard outside. They watched in horror as their Rheairds was being destroyed by the possessed town's people.

The demonic people heard Zelos and looked towards him and Sheena. They all just stared at them for a while before suddenly running towards them.

"We need to get out of here!" Sheena was slightly panicking.

"Jump over them!" Zelos suggested and he leaped forward.

Sheena did the same and they was leaping off the town's people heads. They soon lost the people and was leaping off building roof tops. However they was stopped at their tracks when Zelos hit a red barrier that surrounded the whole city

"W-What the hell?!" Zelos got up quickly from the ground and looked up, seeing the dome barrier from the ground to the sky.

"Dammit! We need to hide!" Sheena pulled Zelos to the side and they went into a shop. They hid into a closet on the third floor.

"How are we going to get out of here..?" Zelos asked.

Sheena thought for a bit before concluding. "I need to conquer the darkness in me.. These cards are causing all of this to happen. If I can beat the darkness, I am sure that city will go back to normal."

Zelos quickly looked towards Sheena. "Well.. Okay then, but lets wait until the people calm down a little. I can hear they moving about outside still."

Sheena nodded and they waited.

* * *

Back at Hima, the rest of the group was outside of the Inn, waiting for Sheena and Zelos to return. They also explained to Marta what happened during when she was asleep.

Colette was sitting on a bench near the front door of the Inn with Genis and Mithos. Marta and Emil was sitting on a different bench on the other side of the Inn with Tenebrae laying on Marta's lap and Coffee being on Emil's lap. The rest was at the front of the Inn, standing there and waiting.

"What is taking Sheena and Zelos so long to get back here?" Lloyd asked as he was getting worried now.

"Hm, they should had been here by now. Something isn't right." Raine said afterward.

Marta looked up at the clear night sky. "What do you think happened to them?"

Raine shook her head slowly, not being able to give Marta an answer.

"Whatever it may be, it must be something difficult for them not showing up yet." Regal said.

"I think some of us should go to Palmacosta and see what's going on." Emil suggested.

Kratos nodded. "I was thinking the same thing. Yuan, Emil, Marta, Raine, and Lloyd, you five will go to Palmacosta and see what is keeping Sheena and Zelos."

Yuan nodded and his Cruxis wings came out of his back now.

"I would l-like to go with them as well.." Colette said weakly.

Raine looked back towards Colette. "No Colette. You still need to rest and recover. Illumination must be taking a lot out of you, so you can't do much right now.

Colette looked sad but nodded. "Okay. I w-will stay here then."

Lloyd was also looking back at Colette, of course being worried for her.

Emil and Marta would say bye to Tenebrae and Coffee before catching up to Lloyd and Raine. They then took off from Hima in their Rheairds while Yuan flew right beside them with his Cruxis wings.

Genis watched them fly away before looking towards Mithos. Observing Mithos, who seemed to be very deep in thought. "Mithos, you okay?"

Mithos snapped out of his day dream and looked towards Genis. "I was just thinking about earlier.. When Umbri didn't want my help. I still have a hard time accepting that some people hate us so much that they would rather have a love one be hurt than accept help from our kind.."

Genis looked down slowly. "Yeah.." Genis then smiled slightly, "But you saved someone... truly saved someone from pending doom. Maybe Umbri will see that not all half elves are bad later on, hm?"

"Maybe... I do feel good about saving Yukunan" Mithos said with a cheerful tone.

"As you should, Mithos." Kratos stood in front of the two boys.

Mithos slowly looked up towards Kratos, seeing his teacher having a slight smile on his face.

"You have done very well saving Yukunan. By each good act you do, you get stronger physically and mentally. I believe if you keep doing good, Abyssion will have a harder time trying to break your mind." Kratos slowly sat down next to Mithos on the bench.

"I believe that to, Kratos. I feel this weight on my shoulders lifting up when I knew I saved Yukunan. It felt great!" Mithos now being a little excited. Kratos than lightly rubbed Mithos's blonde hair.

Genis slowly turned to look at Colette, seeing her leaning back on the bench and still huffing. "Colette, are you getting better?"

Colette's mostly white eyes looked towards Genis and she slightly nodded. "A little bit. I f-feel like throwing up and passing o-out, heh."

"Keep resting, your mind will stabilize soon I am sure." Genis then focus on Colette's eyes, "Hey, do you see the world differently now, Colette?"

Colette would blink and looked around. Everything did look different to her eyes. She was amazed and smiled wide but also felt clumsy for not noticing before. "Yeah, I actually do. I think... I c-can literally see mana in all the objects."

Kratos and Mithos leaned forward to look at Colette. Genis then asked. "Look at me and tell me what you see."

Colette looked back at Genis and her eyes widen. "I see... your light blue mana. Muscles and bones each time your heart pulses. It looks weird!" Colette quickly closed her eyes, being slightly freaked out.

"Hm, interesting. Seem like Illumination grants more abilities other than being able to go to Neflheim." Kratos lightly said.

Mithos thought for a bit and asked. "Colette. I want you to look at me and tell me what you see. I need to know if I truly have good mana, like Genis's."

Genis and Kratos looked towards Mithos. Colette slowly peered her eyes between her parting fingers. She softly said. "... I see pure green mana for the rest of your body except your head... In your head, there seems to be a mix of green and black mana fighting and then there's... a red mana to."

"Red mana..?" Mithos asked.

"I assume it must be your past mana, Mithos. In the past, your Cruxis Crystal was red, which match the color of your mana back then. It means that there is still a little 'past you' that lives in your head. The black mana has to be Abyssion's and the green mana must be your current mana now, also since your Cruxis Crystal now is green as well." Kratos then looked up to the sky.

"Hm, I see.." Mithos sighed just a bit.

Colette than reassured Mithos. "Don't worry. The red mana I see is nowhere as big as the green mana that is taking up most of your body. That red mana won't do anything to you."

"Yeah, you are right. It won't. I am more worried about the black mana though." Mithos slowly clasped is hands together.

"The black mana isn't as big as the green mana though, Mithos. It's only in you head. You will overcome Abyssion." Genis slowly placed his hand onto Mithos's shoulder.

Colette then looked towards Regal and Presea, who was now sitting in front of Tenebrae and Coffee. Her eyes looked at Apocalypse when Regal put it down on the ground and saw nothing but just pure darkness coming off of it.

"Regal, I am curious. What do the voices say that is coming off Apocalypse?" Tenebraes' tail wagged while asking the question.

Regal looked down at the demonic leg guards, "They say 'Feed the darkness' and 'Give into jealousy'."

"Jealousy?" Presea's head slowly tilted to the side now.

Regal slowly looked towards Presea. "Yes. I now know for certain what my darkness has to be. It has to be the jealousy I have for other families.."

Tenebrae got even more curious. "What do you mean?"

Regal paused for a bit before asking for Kratos and the rest to come to where he was at. He began to explain. "I always wanted to have a family with Alicia but that dream will never happen since she is dead.. Every time I see a family having a good time, I am of course happy for them for the most part but deep inside I long to have that kind of happiness as well. Two months after Alicia died and during the time I was in jail, each time I saw family members visiting their love ones I got a sense of jealousy."

"Hm, very interesting." Tenebrae said while Coffee lightly howled.

Regal continued on. "I am able to contain that type of emotion, knowing it's not worth it to express it out. I am thinking the reason why Apocalypse split into four and took over that family is because it was attempting to break me... attempting to show me something I can't have anymore... which is a family that I could had made with Alicia.."

Regals' eyes slightly watered up and he felt a pair of small arms wrap around his waist. He looked to see Presea actually hugging him.

"You do have a family, which is us." Presea than gave Regal a smile. Regal soon smiled back at her.

"Oh my god! I rarely get see you smile, Presea! I love it when you do though!" Colette clapped her hands while jumping up and down.

"It's the first time I have seen her smile. It seems so new." Mithos eventually smiled as well.

* * *

Lloyd, Raine, Emil, Marta, and Yuan landed on the outskirts of Palmacosta. They saw the red, dome shape barrier around the whole city.

Lloyd attempted to break the barrier by slashing his sword at it. "Urgh! Sheena and Zelos must be trapped inside. Why won't it break?!"

"Lloyd, calm down. This barrier won't be broken like that." Raine slowly placed her hand onto her chin, thinking deeply.

"Hopefully, Zelos and Sheena will find out how to break this barrier." Yuan slowly crossed his arms.

Marta then saw the town's people rushing towards them. "Guys look!"

Everyone saw the people bunching up at the barrier. There was so much weight at the barrier that it was slightly bending forward.

"...Look at them. They acting like zombies." Emil slightly backed up, seeing angry and distressed faces of the people being pinned at the barrier.

Raine noted the increasing bend on the barrier as more and more people was gathering on it. "They can break the barrier, guys. The barrier can only handle so much weight."

"Then we should back up a little so we won't be crush by the mass of people when they break through." Yuan suggested, backing up with Emil. The rest did the same as they watched the barrier slowly getting deformed.


	20. Why Umbri controls

Zelos looked to the side a slowly when he suddenly heard a lot of running outside of the shop. His right eye brow raised. After a few seconds, it went quiet. "Okay, I think the people went somewhere else."

Zelos looked down at Sheena, observing her as she looking down at the hellish cards she was holding in her hands. He could tell she was very nervous. "Are you okay?"

Sheena nodded to his question and sighed deeply. "Y-Yeah. Just don't know what to expect when I face the evil in me.."

"Well, you're strong minded, Sheena. I know you will win." Zelos said while leaning back just a bit. He also had that somewhat cocky smile on his face. Sheena could see the smile just faintly from the light that peered through the holes in the closet.

After looking at Zelos, Sheena looked back down at the evil cards and blinked a few times while asking, "So... I have listen to the voices coming off the cards... right?"

"Uhhh... I think so." Zelos wasn't too sure himself.

"Alright, well here I go.." Sheena closed her eyes now and listened to the faint, demonic voices for a few seconds before she and Zelos felt the ground shake suddenly after a loud explosion was heard.

"What was that!" Sheena opened her eyes and looked back at Zelos.

Zelos opened the closet door. "I will see." He got to a window and looked. He saw the barrier slowly disappearing and also saw the mass of the town's people all going towards a group of people. He couldn't make out who the people were due to them being far away but had a sense to help them out, "The barrier's down and the town's folk are attacking some other people. We need to hurry and help them!"

Sheena ran out of the closet after putting the evil cards in her pocket and followed right behind Zelos who ran out of the shop already.

* * *

"Don't kill the people. Evade them." Yuan said as he flew off the ground in aid with his Cruxis wings.

Lloyd, Raine, Emil, and Marta easily dodged the people who was attempting to grab them.

Marta landed on top of a roof and looked back, seeing the people not attempting to go after them anymore. She tilted her head and wondered why. She then saw the people going after the Rheairds and her eyes widen. "They're going to destroy our Rheairds, guys!"

Raine thought of a quick plan just then. "Marta, Emil, and Lloyd, defend the Rheairds. Me and Yuan will go look for Zelos and Sheena.

They all nodded and Raine ran on foot while Yuan flew forward in the air.

"We won't kill like Yuan said. We can use tree branches as our weapons to fend off the people." Emil said as he jumped in front of a tree and broke off a large piece of a tree branch. Lloyd and Marta soon did the same. They then jumped into the air and landed in front of the group of people.

"Try to hear my voice please. We do not wish to hurt you. Resist whatever is taking over your mind and body!" Marta loudly said, she didn't wanted to hurt the people.

The group of people ignored what she pleaded out and keep running towards them and the Rheairds.

Emil sighed. "We have no choice!" Emil and Lloyd ran forward first. Marta stood there and sighed sadly before rushing forward as well.

* * *

Yuan landed next to Raine when they got to the big courtyard in the middle of the city. They saw Neil and two guards standing at the middle of the courtyard.

"Oh Neil, are you okay?" Raine asked. Somewhat relief to see Neil seemly unharmed.

Neil looked towards Raine and let out a gut wrenching scream that broke the glasses off houses and shops around the area.

"Ahhhhh!" Raine quickly dropped to her knees now and covered her ears now. The scream was unbearable to her.

Yuan was also getting effected by the scream and tried his hardest to not let it overwhelm him. "S-Shut your mouth!" Yuan held his right hand out and shot out a blue bolt of lightning to Neil.

One of the guards got in front of Neil and took the hit. The guard flew backwards and landed on the ground behind Neil.

At that time, Zelos and Sheena was at the courtyard as well and they saw both Yuan and Raine.

"Raine, Yuan!" Sheena was happy to see them.

Yuan saw Sheena and Zelos. He then looked towards Raine, who was still on her knees to the ground. "We need to get going, now!"

Zelos and Sheena nodded. They ran forward and evaded Neil and the other guard. Yuan went to Raine and helped her to her feet.

Yuan, Raine, Zelos, and Sheena then ran from the courtyard as fast as they could now. They soon got to the outskirts of the city, they saw the mass of people ganging up on Lloyd, Marta, and Emil, who was still defending the Rheairds.

"U-Urgh, there's too many and I don't want to hit the kids!" Marta kept dodging the people who was attempting to tackle her down to the ground.

Yuan then placed his hands onto the ground and shouted, "Jump everyone!"

Without hesitation, everyone jumped off the ground, except the town's people. Yuan then sent a very wide electric current along the ground. The electricity went into the people's body and paralyzed them temporarily. Yuan watched as the people drop to the ground.

"Are they going to be okay? Marta asked while looking at one of the kids just laying there, breathing slowly.

Yuan nodded. "Yes they will be. This is our chance to escape so lets go."

Everyone, except Yuan who flew up, got on the Rheairds and left Palmacosta. Sheena was sitting behind Raine on her Rheaird and Zelos was sitting behind Lloyd behind his Rheaird.

"Thank you guys so much for coming. I thought you guys wasn't going to come." Sheena said while slowly resting her head upon Raines' back.

"We got worried after twenty minutes passed and you guys didn't come back. We had to go see what was wrong." Marta looked towards Sheena.

Zelos was thinking and then said. "How did the barrier even break?"

"We let the people gather up on the barrier and the barrier couldn't take all that weight on it." Raine answered.

"My question is why was those people even acting like that." Emil asked.

The question reminded Sheena of the Gates of Hell cards that was still in her pocket. She pulled them out. "It was because of these."

Everyone looked towards the cards as Sheena continued to speak. "These cards was at the basement of the Governor's office. They was effecting the people's minds."

"Those cards look... eerie." Emil observed the hellish designs on the cards. The designs consisted of some type of written glowing text but it wasn't any kind of writing ever seen by any culture or race. On the back of the cards there was double doors that was closed with a lock that looked like Cerberus, the three headed demon dog that is the guard of Hades.

Yuan slowly crossed his arms over his chest. "We are making fast progress. Instead of only completing two trails today, we can get done with three."

"Right! And the night is still young so afterwards we can eat and rest!" Lloyd said with excitement of finally being able to relax soon.

* * *

Kratos went inside of the Inn to check up on the family. He walked up the stairs to get to the second floor and saw Akumu and Goroze standing outside of the door. "What are you two doing standing out here? Shouldn't you be in there with Yukunan?"

Goroze explained to Kratos. "Umbri wanted to talk to Yukunan alone. What happened earlier before Yukunan was back to normal kind of shook him up."

Kratos went up to the door and opened it very slightly so he could see in the room with his right eye and also hear.

Umbri was sitting on a chair next to the bed that Yukunan was still laying on.

"Dad... what do you need to talk to me about?" Yukunan asked curiously and also slightly worried.

Umbri looked at his son with pain in his eyes. All he could think about is what Raine said to him. That she called him a pitiful human. "Yukunan... how do you feel about half elves?"

"Uhm.. Well I hate them because you said they are the scum of the planet. You said they caused the Great Kharlan War in the past." Yukunan answered.

Umbri sighed. "I actually don't know if they caused that war or not, my son. I only said that to make you hate them."

Yukunan's heart pounded faster. "Why would you make me hate a whole race..?"

"Because I want you to be like me when you grow up, that is why. I want you not go through the pain of dealing with half elves as I did before." Umbri tried to place his hand onto Yukunan's hand.

Yukunan moved his hand back now. "You always do this! You force your believes and will on me all the time and I am the idiot who forgives you and end up believing what you said! You never let me just be me! In all honesty I never hated half elves, elves or any other race for the past year because they don't seem like bad people! I only pretended I hated them to make you proud of me! Mithos helped me get back to normal and you didn't even tell him thank you yet!" Yukunan's face was red with anger and frustration at his father.

Umbri got caught in his words, stuttering slightly at his son's explosive reply. "Y-Yukunan... I... I'm sorry."

Yukunan then turned onto his side on the bed, his back facing to Umbri. "Just leave me alone for now on..."

Umbri stood up from the chair and walked up to the door. Kratos backed up from the door and went down the stairs after asking Akumu and Goroze to follow him in a room on the first floor.

After closing the door, Kratos turned around to look at Akumu and Goroze. "I want to know exactly why Umbri hates half elves to the point where he was willing to risk his son's life to then let Mithos help."

Goroze slowly placed his hand onto Akumus' shoulder. "To make a long story short, it's because when he was about seven years old, a group of half elf killed his best friend and attempted to kill him at school all because of a girl that his best friend liked and the group of half elves wanted the girl to be in their group instead. The girl came to try to defend him when he was too injured to defend himself.. They killed her in the process."

"What did you do at the time to help Umbri get passed what happened after that?" Kratos wondered.

"I tried everything any father would do to help his child get pass a tragic event. I cared for him when he was recovering in the hospital. Told him it was going to be okay. But none of my words seemed to reach him. He grew hate for half elves. He assumed each one was just like the group that kill his best friend and that girl." Goroze slowly sat down onto a couch with Akumu.

"Did he ever go back to that school?" Kratos asked.

Goroze shook his head. "No because I feared if I let him go back, then he would had tried to kill those boys in revenge. Umbri didn't like that I wasn't letting him go back to that school and he was very distant to me for a good while until he got older."

Kratos went to sit on a different couch adjacent from the couch Goroze and Akumu was sitting on. "What happened after he got older."

"Well he met Akumu when he was nineteen and left my house that following year. During that time I was still working at an industrial plant. I got into an accident that caused my knees to break, which forced me to retire. After I recovered, I went to go live with Umbri and Akumu while they was caring for Yukunan when he was a very small baby." Goroze leaned back onto the couch.

"Akumu, care to tell me when Umbri started to abuse you, Umbri, and Goroze." Kratos was now very interested in Umbris' past and why he is what he is now.

Akumu began to speak. "When I first met Umbri, he was somewhat controlling from the start. Like he would tell me what I should wear and eat most of the time but as the same time he showed me that he truly cared and loved me at the end. But that personality of his got worse when Yukunan was born.. He wanted to control everything in Yukunan's life, even to the point where he should walk to and who he should hate. He forced his will on Yukunan and when either me or Goroze try to stop him, he would yell back at us and say that he will hit us if we interfered."

"I see. And I guess you couldn't escape anywhere with Yukunan since Hima is a small village surrounded by the wild. Nor could you ask for authorities since there isn't any here due to this place being very peaceful." Kratos said.

Goroze nodded as Akumu said. "Yes. We was basically trapped.."

Kratos then stood up. "I want you to think about this offer I am about to give you. When Zelos and the rest come back and let us know when the relocation party will get here, let me know if you two and your son want to be in a different shelter from Umbri. I do feel sorry for what happen to Umbri in the past, but it's no excuse for him to abuse the family he has now. Akumu and Goroze, I know you two love him dearly but you have to know what is best for Yukunan first before him." Kratos than walked out of the room.

* * *

Colette was looking up at the night sky. She could see very faint dark waves sweep across the sky every ten seconds. She didn't like how ominous the waves looked. She then saw white four streams of pure mana in the sky. Her head tilted to the side as she tried make it what was making the streams of mana. Soon enough, she realized the streams was being emitted out of the Rheairds. "Hey guys! Lloyd and rest are back!" Colette said excitedly.


	21. The cooks

Everyone, except the family, was outside now and watched as Yuan landed onto the ground first. Soon after, the four Rheairds landed on the ground in front of the group.

Genis quickly asked. "Sheena, Zelos, why are you not on your Rheairds?"

Sheena jumped off of Raines' Rheaird and said. "The town's people at Palmacosta was being controlled by these and destroyed our Rheairds." Sheena held up the Gates of Hell cards for everyone to see.

* * *

While everyone was examining the cards, Lloyd pulled Genis to the side with his mouth slightly watering. "Genis. Please tell you're going to cook soon!"

Genis blinked a few times while looking up at Lloyd's tense face. "U-Uhm yeah. I can cook up some pot roast and fried rice."

Mithos overheard Genis and Lloyd. The blonde boy walked up beside Genis and asked. "May I help with the cooking? I really do like cooking." Mithos slowly smiled.

"You cook?" Lloyd asked while looking at Mithos.

Mithos nodded. "Yes. I remember cooking for Martel, Kratos, Pronyma, Yuan, and sometimes if I was in a really good mood, I would make a great feast for all of Derris Kharlan. Hehe, Yuan couldn't cook to save his life."

Genis chuckled at the joke. Lloyd was surprised that Yuan didn't know how to cook. "Is he just as bad as Raine?" Lloyd asked.

"I don't know because I never tried Raines' cooking." Mithos answered.

Amidst the group, Raine heard her name and word "cooking". She ran passed everyone else with stars in her eyes. She got in front of Mithos and quickly asked. "You want me to cook for you?"

Mithos happily nodded while Genis cringed at the thought of his older sister cooking. Lloyd didn't want eat bad food so he spoke instantly. "R-Raine, maybe you shouldn't cook. I mean you just got back from Palmacosta from all that madness, h-hehe."

Genis added. "That is right. Why don't you just let me and Mithos cook?"

Everyone else got to where Lloyd, Raine, Genis, and Mithos were at. Yuan then stood beside Raine while saying. "I do like Mithos's cooking but I think me and Raine should cook for everyone. Just for tonight." Yuan then lightly smiled. He was just like Raine when he came to cooking.

Mithos was slightly hesitate when asking. "A-Are you sure? I mean, have you practice with your cooking between my death and now?"

Yuan's left eye slightly twitched. "Yes I have! And I am sure Raine is an excellent cook to."

"I am a great cook. It's final, me and Yuan will cook for everyone tonight." Raine slowly placed her arm to Yuan's shoulders.

Marta, Emil, and Tenebrae never tried either Raines' or Yuan's food. Marta then softly spoke. "I can't wait to try the food you two cook up."

"Thank you, Marta. You will not be disappointed by the food we will serve." Yuan said while leaning to Raine.

"I umm... I think I might o-of lied when I said I was hungry." Lloyd then yawned, pretending he was sleepy, "I think I am going to go to sleep."

Zelos quickly went up beside Lloyd and placed his right arm around Lloyd's shoulders and neck, pulling the teen back from walking into the Inn. "That is nonsense Lloyd, we all have to eat. And if we all have to their... food, then you must stomach it down just like the rest of us."

"Stomach it down?! What do you mean by that?!" Raine quickly turned to give Zelos a death stare. Her arms crossing over her chest.

Zelos quickly tensed up and went behind Lloyd for cover. "I m-mean e-err.. L-Like.." Zelos couldn't get his words out, so he kept stuttering.

* * *

While Zelos, Lloyd, Raine and Yuan were arguing near the front of the Inn. Emil looked towards Colette, who was standing at the middle of the field, looking up at the sky. He was very interested in her white eyes. Emil walked towards Colette and Marta followed right behind him.

"Colette, your eyes... they're white. Why?" Emil asked curiously.

The former Chosen turned to look directly at Emil and Marta. She lightly smiled while saying. "It's one of the effects of overcoming the evil and darkness in my soul and mind."

Marta tilted her head to the side. "Does your eyes hurt or anything?"

Colette slightly nodded. "Yes a little bit, but the pain is going down."

Marta then looked up slightly, she saw Colette's bangs going white. "Colette, your bangs are going white to."

"Really?" Colette moved her hands to her hair, feeling upon her bangs.

"Yeah. So do you have more attributes now?" Marta asked.

Colette placed her hands back down to her sides. "Yes. For right now, I can see all types of mana."

"Is that why you was looking up at the sky like that? You can see the world's mana changing?" Emil looked up at the sky, only being able to see the dimly lit stars and the night sky.

Colette looked up at the sky as well. "Yes. I can see a never ending wave of mana sweeping across the sky. The waves are very dark... I worry about this world. It won't be able to survive with endless waves of dark mana slowly replacing the light mana."

Marta slowly placed her hand onto Colette's left shoulder. "Don't worry Colette. We're going to save this world again. That's a promise."

* * *

"Yeah, we will hehe." Colette said cheerfully.

Kratos was observing the devilish cards that Sheena still held out to him and everyone else that was around her.

"I assume that if you defeat the evil within you, Sheena, the people of Palmacosta will go back to normal." Regal said.

"Yeah, me and Zelos was thinking that to and I was about to do it but Lloyd and them help us get out of Palmacosta." Sheena slowly placed the cards in her right pocket.

Genis wondered a bit and looked towards Mithos. "Mithos, what do you think your Devil's arms weapon his going to be?"

Mithos wondered as he wasn't too sure himself. "Hmm, maybe a sword. I sometimes use a sword when I am fighting."

"But not all of the time. You use your sword ten percent of the time. It might be a hellish aura." Kratos said.

Genis added. "Yeah. You're more of a spell caster and melee kind of fighter."

"That is true." Mithos looked up at the night sky, "A devil sword or hellish aura, it does not matter. I will overcome it and take away the darkness."

* * *

An hour passed and everyone went back inside of the Inn. Raine and Yuan was cooking in the kitchen while everyone, except Umbri, was at the big, circular diner table. Waiting for dinner.

"Man.. I should had been more quiet when asking Genis to cook." Lloyd said in a sad tone of voice. His cheek was resting on his hand that was up in the air with his elbow on the table.

Tenebrae was still slightly confused. "Is their cooking that bad?"

"The worst in my opinion." Zelos got up from the chair and went a window, looking out of it.

"I will be honest. I do not like Raines' cooking. And how Mithos reacted to Yuan wanting to cook as well, I am sure his cooking is just as bad." Presea said while slightly looking down.

"Aw come on, guys. Let give them a chance. I mean we haven't seen each other for six months. They might have improved over time." Marta said with optimism in her voice.

"I pray that Raine did improve." Sheena slowly leaned back on the chair.

"I pray that Yuan did as well." Mithos looked up at the ceiling.

"I pray that the food is actually dead this time." Lloyd said, remembering the last time Raine cooked eels and the eels was still moving on his plate.

Everyone in the diner table lightly chuckled at what Lloyd said.

Yukunan was enjoying the hang out with his mother and Grandpa. The young boy looked towards Genis and Mithos. He stared at them for a while.

Soon, Genis and Mithos felt the sense that Yukunan kept staring at them while everyone else was talking amongst each other. Mithos looked at Yukunan, which made Yukunan quickly looked away to avoid eye contact. Just then, the door was kicked open by Raine. She walked into the diner room first and Yuan followed right behind her. They both had smiles on their faces while each one was holding up huge platters.

"Dinner is ready!" Raine said with delight.

"Oh man... here we go." Lloyd slowly placed his head to the table.

Kratos slowly got up from the chair and was about to leave the room. Yuan looked at Kratos, "Kratos, sit down. You're going to eat to."

"Yuan.. Me, you and Mithos don't even need to eat. We are Cruxis angels." Kratos then slowly placed his hands on the door knob and attempted to open the door, but Raine stood in front of the door.

"Kratos, will you please sit back down and enjoy dinner with everyone else." Raine said softly.

"No, I will not ea-" Kratos was interrupted by Raine, who began to shout. "You're going to enjoy this food that me and Yuan cooked for you and everyone! Now sit back down! You to, Zelos!"

Kratos slightly flinched back from Raine, which surprised Mithos the most out of everyone else. Zelos quickly sat back down onto his chair. Kratos was indeed brave but not brave enough to test Raine. With a sigh, Kratos sat back down onto his chair next to Lloyd.

Yuan first placed his platter onto the table first and began to describe to everyone what he has cooked. "What we have here is fried oysters, Jio noodles, stir fried rice, breaded chicken, sweet and sour sauce, lime chilli ribs and sweet tea."

Marta, Emil, Tenebrae, Yukunan, Akumu, and Goroze had wide smiles on their faces. The food looked and sounded amazing.

Raine then laid her platter next to Yuan's platter as she began her description. "And what I have cooked for you all is Spicy chicken curry, mushroom steaks, bowls of noodles, mini burgers, and Apple gel pies."

"Oh my god. This food looks so delicious!" Emil was watering at the mouth, his eyes wide open.

"I am not sure what you guys was worried about. Their cooking skills are superb." Tenebrae said while his tail wagged.

Sheena sighed and said to herself. "Don't judge a book by it's cover." Just like everyone else, except for the family, in the past she to was fooled by Raines' cooking as it did look good but tasted awful.

Yuan and Raine sat down on their chairs and told everyone to dig in.

Emil and Marta was quickly filling their and Tenebraes' plate with the food while Akumu was fixing her step father's and Yukunan's plate. Yuan filled his plate with food soon after and so did Raine. Everyone else was reluctantly placing some food on their plates.

Raine and Yuan was eating their food first and was absolutely loving how it all tasted. Presea was staring down at her plate of food while Zelos was attempting to try to eat some of it but just couldn't even get the fork near his mouth with the food on it.

Emil, Marta, Tenebrae, Yukunan, Akumu, and Goroze would take a bite of their food and their eyes widen with instant disgust of the food.

"Well how is the food, Akumu?" Yuan asked happily.

The mother would had slightly trembled and regretfully swallowed to speak. "I-It's good. Your c-cooking skills are amazing." Akumu of course didn't want to tell the truth.

"What about you, Tenebrae?" Raine looked towards Tenebrae.

Tenebraes' tail quickly went down and his ears went down as well. "W-Well like I said before, your cooking skills are c-clearly superb. H-Hehehe."

Raine smiled and looked towards Lloyd. "Lloyd, eat now!"

Lloyd flinched. "D-Dammit..."

Lloyd slowly placed his fork on the one of the bread chickens and dipped it in his small bowl of sweet and sour sauce. He very slowly and hesitantly bit on the chicken and began to chew. His cheeks soon puffed up, as if he was about to throw up. He quickly leaned to the side and started to cough.

Raines' face went slightly serious, "Oh please. You clearly don't know the difference between good food from bad food. At least Emil knows, right?"

Emil couldn't even speak, he still had the food in his mouth. He was too afraid to swallow it. So he simply nodded to Raine and smiled.

"May I be excused?" Zelos asked.

"Nope." Raine continued to eat her food.

"May I be excused, Raine? I ate some of the bread chicken and it was good." Presea lightly said.

Raine nodded and Presea quickly got up from her chair and left the diner room with a slight smile on her face.

"What?! Why does she get to be excused?!" Zelos stood up from his chair now.

Raine looked towards Zelos. "Because she actually ate some of her food. Besides, she's has a body of a little girl, so she doesn't eat much."

Yukunan thought of an idea to get out of the dinner. "M-Mommy. My head kind o-of hurts, can you please take me to bed and grandpa, can you read me a bed time story?"

Akumu and Goroze wasted no time getting up and leaving with Yukunan after telling Raine and Yuan thanks for the food.

"Wow.." Sheena wished she was one of them so she didn't have to suffer from the food as well.

"You all not leaving this room until you eat your food. You all need to get your strength back up, especially you Sheena and Regal. You two have trails to do." Yuan said while eating some of the noodles from his bowl.

Everyone in the diner room sighed loudly and hung their heads, except for Raine and Yuan, who which was smiling and enjoying their meal.


	22. Still hungry

"Genis... I have an idea to make this food disappear." Mithos whispered to Genis.

Genis looked towards Mithos. "You do?"

Mithos nodded and slowly grabbed some of the food from his plate and placed his hands under the table. He made a ball of light emit on his hands and the light evaporated the food almost instantly. "See that?"

"Mhm. Can you keep doing that?" Genis asked while watching the light.

"Yeah. Just put the food above the light and drop it." Mithos then looked towards Lloyd, watching him very slowly eat the food. "Lloyd, look."

Lloyd slowly looked towards Mithos and saw the light he was emitting under the table. He then witness Genis placing some of the food from his plate and drop it in the light. His eyes widen when seeing the food disappear in the light. "Woah, I didn't know you can do that." Lloyd said quietly to Mithos.

Soon enough, all three boys was placing food into the light under the table while making sure neither Raine or Yuan was watching them.

Zelos, who was sitting on the other side of the table, was watching the boys place their food under the table. He then leaned to the side just enough so he could see under the table and his eyes widen. He watched what was happening to the food. The now excited red hair sat back up on the chair and quickly told Sheena what Mithos, Genis, and Lloyd was doing.

Soon, the word spread out through the diner table. The only people who didn't know of the plan was of course Raine and Yuan.

After ten minutes, everyone except Raine and Yuan, was done with their food.

"Wow, the food was actually amazing, Raine. My plate is done." Lloyd said, rubbing his belly, pretending he was full.

Kratos quickly got up from the chair and was walking to the door while saying to Raine and Yuan, "You indeed improved in cooking, you two." He then opened the door and left the room. Everyone else left the room, thanking Raine and Yuan for the meal.

As soon as they left, it was just Raine and Yuan in the diner room, still eating.

"Haha, who are they trying to fool, huh? We already knew what they was going to do after Mithos made that light under the table. They must of forgot that us half elves can sense mana." Raine chuckled.

Yuan nodded, "It's alright. Besides, this means more food for us to enjoy, right?"

Raine smiled in agreement with Yuan while they continued to eat.

* * *

"I am so glad you thought of that Mithos." Genis said with a smile on his face.

Mithos lightly blushed and nodded. "It feels good to help you all out."

"Genis, please tell me you're still going to cook." Lloyd held his stomach as it slightly growled for food.

"I am. I just need to do it when Raine and Yuan is somewhere else." Genis said.

Mithos slowly turned around and looked up at the railing on the second floor, seeing Umbri watching him and the rest of the group before walking into a room.

"Hmmm..." Mithos sighed.

Genis heard Mithos's sighed and asked. "Are you okay?"

"Kind of. Just wish that Umbri would at least say thank you to us for saving his son." The blonde boy crossed his arms over his chest now.

"You don't need a 'thank you' for a snub like him." Sheena said.

"That's right, Mithos. As long as you did something good at the end and that we appreciate what you did, that's all that matters." Lloyd said as well.

"You guys are right. Does Yukunan know what Colette, Tenebrae, and I did?' Mithos asked.

"His parents most likely told him already." Tenebrae said.

"Hey Mithos, you and I can go up there to talk to him." Colette said with a bright smile on her face.

* * *

Mithos nodded and went up the stairs. Colette soon followed behind him when he opened the door slowly. They saw Yukunan laying in bed, asleep, with his mother lightly rubbing his forehead and Goroze asleep on the couch at the side of the room.

Akumu looked towards Mithos and Colette. An instant smile was on the mother's face as she stood up from the chair. "Hey you two. I didn't have a chance to thank you for what you did for my son."

"It was a pleasure to help you out, ma'am. How is Yukunan feeling?" Mithos asked.

Akumu looked back towards her son. "He is doing okay. He's a smart boy for pulling us for that dinner, but his head really did hurt."

Colette's white eyes looked at Yukunan, she could see a light green aura like mana in the young boy's body. "He'll be okay very soon. His mind is still trying to get back to normal and it's doing a good job."

Akumu looked back at Mithos and Colette. "You two look like brother and sister, yet you're a half elf and you're a human.. with white eyes."

Colette lightly chuckled while explaining to Akumu that they wasn't related.

Mithos blinked a few times as Colette did remind him of Martel a lot, which brought up memories of Martel to him. Soon, tears was falling from Mithos's eyes and then cheeks. The tears fell down to the wood floor.

Akumu looked towards Mithos and she held her hands to her mouth. "Oh my goodness, did I say something to upset you?"

Mithos quickly wiped his eyes now and shook his head. "No ma'am. Just thought of s-something pretty...beautiful a while ago. I am okay though."

Colette placed her hand upon Mithos's back, lightly rubbing it. Umbri then opened the door, seeing Colette and Mithos in the room.

Mithos and Colette turned to see Umbri standing at the doorway.

"I u-ummm... I will leave the room now." Mithos said in a low tone.

Umbri shook his head. "You don't need to all because you think I might yell at you. I just want to say... thank you for saying my son's life. I am sorry for what I said about half elves earlier as well. I was just so angry about half elves.. what they did to me in the past and well what you did to Yukunan earlier... that I wasn't thinking straight.."

Akumus' eyes was wide open, actually hearing her husband saying sorry for the first time.

Mithos was quite shocked as well. He never thought he would hear a human say sorry to him. "I forgive you, Umbri."

"And we do as well, for the most part at least, because you actually did man up and said you was sorry." Raine said right behind Umbri, everyone else was behind the male to.

Umbri nearly jumped out of his skin and leaped into the room while turning around to see the rest of the group going in the room room. "How d-did you all get behind me so quietly?!"

"Called stealth." Sheena said.

Umbris' yelling woke up Goroze and Yukunan.

"W-What's happened?!" Goroze looked around the room, seeing everyone was there. "What's going on?"

Akumu looked towards Goroze while smiling. 'Umbri said sorry to everyone."

Goroze slowly looked towards his son, Umbri, and smiled. "Ah. I see."

Yukunan blinked a few times while looking towards Umbri as well. "You.. said sorry, dad?"

Umbri nodded to his son's question.

"Darn, I wish I could had heard it. I never heard you say sorry before dad." Yukunan said in a slight teasing tone.

"Heh right. Well I don't usually say sorry." Umbri lightly rubbed the back of his head while chuckling some.

* * *

Soon, everyone in the room was talking amongst each other. Yukunan was talking to Raine and Yuan with Akumu, Umbri, and Goroze. Sheena, Zelos, Marta, and Emil was talking to each other. Kratos and Tenebrae was talking to one another while Regal was down stairs with Presea.

Mithos went up to Lloyd and Genis. "Lloyd, to be honest, I didn't really believe that people who were prejudice against half elves could ever change."

Lloyd smiled. "People who are racist can change. Some take a little longer than others though. And usually it takes more than just words to change a person's mind, you have to do action as well."

"Heh right." Mithos nodded lightly.

Lloyd turned his attention to Genis now, "Genis, we should go to the kitchen while everyone else is talking."

Genis agreed and opened the door quietly and then left the room. Lloyd and Mithos left as well.

Lloyd went to a room downstairs and grabbed the bag that had some of the group's raw food in. He quickly got to the kitchen where Mithos and Genis was already in.

"Got the bag. So what are you going to cook, Genis?" Lloyd asked with hunger in his eyes.

Genis was thinking to himself. That's when Regal, Presea, Zelos and Sheena walked into the kitchen as well.

"You don't think we're hungry to, Lloyd? Kind of selfish of ya." Zelos quickly crossed his arms over his chest.

Lloyd quickly looked towards the four who was standing before him. "How did y'all even notice us leaving? Presea, didn't you eat?"

"Me and Presea saw you running around downstairs." Regal explained.

"Zelos and I watched your face Lloyd, seeing how hungry you looked. So we knew what you was going to ask Genis." Sheena slightly smirked.

"I only ate a little." Presea said.

"Oh... Well I didn't mean to be selfish guys." Lloyd rubbed the back of his head now.

"It's okay. I was planning on making a big pot of chicken dumplings so everyone can have something to eat. Emil and the rest didn't eat neither to." Genis said while opening the bag, seeing the food he could work with.

"May I help you cook?" Mithos asked.

Genis nodded and smiled at Mithos.

"We all should not be here. If we stay here, Raine and Yuan are sure to know what we are doing." Regal suggested.

"Right. Let us know when you're done Genis and Mithos." Lloyd said while existing out of the kitchen. Everyone, except Mithos and Genis, left the kitchen.

* * *

Yukunan kept staring at Raine and Yuan. Raine sensed the boy staring and looked towards him with a soft smile on her face.

Yukunan smiled right back at her while saying. "You don't seem any different from humans to me."

"That's because we're not. Mentally that is." Raine explain.

Yukunan tilted his head to the side. "Mentally?"

Raine slowly used her hand to brush her white hair that was covering her ear back, revealing her pointed ear to Yukunan.

"Woah.." Yukunan's eyes went slightly, seeing the pointed ear. His eyes then looked towards Yuan's ears, seeing they wasn't pointed like Raines'. "Why isn't yours like hers if you're a half elf to?"

"Some half elves are born with it and others are not. The most typical way to find out if anyone is a half elf is not by their ears but by their hair color." Yuan said to Yukunan.

"Hair color?" Yukunan asked.

Raine lightly chuckled. "You sure have a lot of questions."

Akumu lightly rubbed Yukunan's head and hair. "Yes, he's a curious kid. This is actually his first time seeing half elves."

Raine slowly leaned back on her chair. "Ah, I see. Well what Yuan means by hair color is that most half elves have hair colors that no humans have. As you can see, Yuan's hair color is blue while mine and Genis's hair is white."

Yukunan though for a bit before asking another question. "That Mithos kid. His hair his blonde, which some humans have and his ears are not point I think. Why is that?"

"His case is very rare." Yuan answered.

"So how can you tell the difference?" Yukunan asked.

Raine lightly sighed. "You can just feel it... By how they either look at you or talk to you. I am not sure how to explain it, heh."

Yukunan leaned more on the bed and pillow before yawning and looked towards his father, who was sitting near the bed on the other side of the bed. "Dad, it's nice that you apologized to them." He smiled at his father before falling as asleep.

Umbri reached forward and softly rubbed Yukunan's head while nodding a little. "Goodnight son. I love you. Sweet dreams."


	23. Sheenas' calling

About an hour passed. Yukunan and his whole family was sleeping in the room on the second floor of the Inn. Lloyd and his group was feed already preparing Sheena to do her trail first.

Sheena slowly sat on her knees to the dirt ground. The Gates of Hell cards in her hands as she looked down upon them. "Okay... I am ready to do this."

"Listen to the words that are being whispered out of the cards and soon you'll be able to battle the evil within you." Raine said as she stood behind Sheena.

Zelos crossed his arms now as a more serious look was on his face. He was, of course, a little worried for Sheena but also had complete confidence in her.

"Be carful to. Whatever injuries you get during the battle also transfers to your body here to. So I assume if you die in the battle.. you die here to." Colette said in a shaky tone.

"R-Right. I will not fail." Sheena soon closed her eyes.

* * *

Sheena's focus was to the whispered words that emitted off the cards. Some of the card's phrases were that of. "True killer.." and "Not caring of others..". These words made Sheena nervous and soon her eyes opened.

She looked at her surroundings and instantly recognized where she was at. The area was Mizuho and it was from the past where half of Mizuho was already built and the other half was under construction. Her eyes then looked forward, to then see a younger version of herself at the outskirts of the town.

The younger Sheena was age nine. Her clothes was a simple, black Shinobi no Koromo with a black hoodie over her head and a face mask that covered her face expect her eyes. Behind her was a younger version of Kuchinawa. He was watching her silently. The person who was training them both at the time was Igaguri, before he got into a coma.

"You see your prey, Sheena... Observe your surroundings and know the layout to." Igaguri said quietly as he stared at the rabbit that was sitting and eating a carrot near a tree.

"Right." The young Sheena said with confidence in her voice, though her hand that was holding a black Kunai was shaking.

Igaguri saw the trembles in her hand and his arms slowly crossed. "Make sure you are mentally ready."

"I know." The young girl took five quiet steps forward and she gulped slightly.

"Take note of any possible escape routes so your prey doesn't have a chance to hide anywhere." Igaguris' eyes looked towards a stick that was in front of Sheena's path and sighed in upcoming disappointment.

"I know.." Sheena sounded slightly annoyed as she took another step forward and her foot stepped on the stick, breaking it. The cracking sound of the stick alerted the rabbit and it quickly rush back in the other direction where the noise came from."

"You'll not escape!" The young Sheena quickly threw her Kunai at the rabbit's direction, but the rabbit turned right, thus the Kunai missed and stuck into a tree instead.

"Well you have starved to death and you failed your assassination mission. I am starting to wonder if being a ninja is the right occupation for you, Sheena." Igaguri unfolded his arms from his chest and stared down at the young female ninja.

The young Sheena took Igaguris' words as more hurtful than motivation to prove him wrong and she just looked down at the ground.

"Hm.. I remember that." The older Sheena said to herself.

Sheena then saw her surrounding change drastically. She took steps back until she bumped into a dresser. She was in the Chief Igaguris' hut and saw him laying on some blankets. The locals was also in the hut, crying and sobbing over their chief. She was behind the whole crowd so no one noticed her. Among the crowd was an older Sheena who was also crying. She was on her knees, her hands on Igaguri slowly rising and falling stomach.

"This is all your fault, Sheena! My parents are dead and Igaguris' in a coma!" Kuchinawa said loudly.

The Sheena that was near Igaguri flinched at the yell and stood up. "I said I was sorry! I didn't mean for any of this to happen!"

"If you didn't want none of this to happen then you should had done a better job at protecting Igaguri! You failing that mission is nearly unforgivable!" One woman yelled to Sheena.

"I'm.. s-sorry.." Sheena hung her head low. Tears still streaming down her eyes and cheeks.

One of Igaguris' right hand men, named Huri (Hue-wee), quickly stood in front of Sheena. "Stop saying sorry. Why don't you just leave Mizuho? You're a failed ninja and summoner. Completely useless to all of us.

The Sheena near the dresser continued to watch as the other Sheena just stood there.

Tiga soon spoke up. "Huri, as now vice chief, I have to ask you to move away from Sheena. She has been through enough as it is. She will not be exiled neither."

Huri completely ignored Tiga. "Did you not hear me? We don't want you here, Sheena!" Huri attempted to grab Sheena by the arm but he stop in mid moment with shock in his face. The people inside the hut gasped in horrible when seeing blood quickly spill onto the wooden floor. The blood was coming from the Huris' stomach that was stabbed by Sheena's Kunai.

The other Sheena covered her mouth with her hands now as a look of horrible was on her face.

"My name isn't Sheena... My is Dheena. (Dd-ee-nah)" Dheena looked up at the dying ninja with a wide grin on her face. She quickly pulled back Huri by doing a drop kick upon his chest, sending him back to a wall. She landed on her two feet afterwards.

"You... You monster!" Kuchinawa grabbed a dagger, waiting for the right moment to strike.

The local's now were screaming and rushing out of the hut as Tiga lead them outside while Igaguris' guards were attacking Dheena. One by one, Dheena was killing them with a look of blood lust and pleasure in her eyes. She then focused on Kuchinawa. "Do you hate me more now?! Attack me!"q

"That must be the evil in me. Time to eliminate it!" Sheena said as she pulled her cards of light from her pocket and rushed towards Dheena.

Dheena saw Sheena rushing towards her and she threw one of the dead guards at her. Sheena didn't respond in time and fell onto the ground with dead guard on top of her.

By that time, more guards rushed into the hut and began to threw knives and Shurikens with Kuchinawa at Dheena. The demonic woman was shifting left and right in a fluid like motion. The movements she did was so fast that it seemed like multiple images of her was created for a second right behind the real Dheena.

"How is she dodging all of this?!" One of the guards said out of disbelieve from what he was seeing.

Huri, who was still alive but barely, looked to the side and saw Sheena beginning to roll the dead guard off of herself. He then pointed to where Sheena was at, "W-Watch out! There's two S-Sheena's!

Kuchinawa paused and looked at Sheena. "What?! How?!"

Five of the guards quickly switched their focus from Dheena to Sheena. All five of them jumped forward in the air with their swords aimed down towards her.

Sheena saw them coming and her feet pressed on the dead guard's body and pushed the body up in the air, in which three of the guards got hit by the body and flew back down to the ground. She then slammed her hands onto the ground hard, giving her forward momentum and she flipped over the two other guards who landed on the ground.

Dheena shifted forward in lightning speeds and did a spinning sweep kick to one guard, making him fall to the ground. She continued her attack by standing straight up and doing a heel kick upon the fallen guard. The impact and force of the heel kick instantly ruptured the guard's internal organs, instantly killing him on the spot.

Kuchinawa was stun beyond believe at what he was witnessing. He just stood there, watching.

The guards who was next to Dheena at the time finally saw what just happened to one of their teammates and they pulled out their spiked chains.

"You killer! You'll pay for your betrayal!" One of the guards said as he swung his spiked chain to Dheena.

In which Dheena caught the chain by her left hand without hesitation. The spikes went through her hand but it didn't seem to affect her in any way.

"That's right. I am a killer!" Dheena sounded very proud when saying that while she pulled back at the chain, pulling the guard towards her. She then send her head forward, thus headbutting the guard's head. The guard quickly fell down to the ground, dead, with a huge, cracked dent upon his forehead.

Dheena then swung the chain to the next guard that was about to attack her. The chain wrapped around his head and the spikes sunk into his neck.

"We have to get Igaguri out of here, Kuchinawa!" One guard, named Tsukol (Sue-cole), said while he pulled out his sword and rushed towards Dheena.

Dheena moved her other hand towards Tsukol and Tsukol was instantly pushed through the wooden wall by an invisible force. Tsukol coughed up blood in mid-flight before he landed into the lake outside.

During this time, Sheena was dodging and blocking the two guard's attack on her while she was trying to reason with them. "I am not the evil Sheena! She is!"

"We will not listen to your lies!" One of the guards said as he swung his sword in a straight down motion.

Sheena quickly moved to the side so the sword would miss and she pressed her palm upon the male's stomach. One of the cards of light was on her palm as well, so a burst of light emitted and quickly made the guard fly back. The other guard swung his sword towards Sheena's head. She quickly ducked under the sword and did a three sixty recovery spin kick upon the guard's face, knocking him out.

Sheena then switched her focus to Dheena and threw her cards of light to Dheena's back. The light element was burning Dheena badly and made her let go of the chain that was wrapped around the guard's neck still.

Kuchinawa saw this and blinked at Sheena.

"D-Damn you!" Dheena reached back and grabbed the cards. The cards now burning her hands so she throw them away from her.

The rest of the guards took this chance to grab Igaguri, Huri and the two guards out of the hut. When they went to the get the dead body off the other three guards, one of them spoke, "Burn this hut down... us three will stay here and make sure these two do not escape the flames."

"I will stay here to." Kuchinawa said calmly.

The other guards looked at each other before looking back at the three guards and Kuchinawa before nodding. They soon left the hunt.

All of the people of Mizuho was standing outside as they saw most of the guards leaving the hunt. Huris' wife quickly going to him, crying but thankful he's still alive.

"Okay... burn it down." One of guards said.

"Wait what? Sheena and Kuchinawa still in there!" Tiga placed his hand onto the guard who gave the order and made him turn around to look at him directly.

Huri then spoke. "N-No.. there's two of them. B-Both evil.. They have to die.."

Tiga looked at Huri. He didn't want to believe it but he knew what Sheena just did so he slowly nodded his head. Giving the okay to carry out the order.

Without hesitation, some of the guards grabbed barrels of a flammable substance and spilled all of it around the hut. Then one guard pulled out a fire card and threw it in middle of the trail of the liquid. Instantly a wall of flames surrounded the hunt. The flames licked at the walls and soon the hunt itself was slowly being engulfed by the flames.

One of the guards slowly stood up with sword in his left hand.

"I... Bai (Bay), am the leader of the guards you just faced and I will not allow you two to cause anymore misery to the people!" Bai said with honor in his voice. His body was tall and well built. He had red hair and slightly pale skin. He ripped his white Uwagi off his upper body, showing scars of previous battles. He then grabbed the hilt of his white steel sword.

Sheena turned around now to look at Bai and she pleaded to the male. "Please listen to me! I am not here to hurt any of you! I am here to kill her!" Sheena then pointed to Dheena, whom slowly stood up straight with a smirk on her face.

One of the guards stood beside Bai now. "Sheena, first you failed to make Volt your summon spirit, which not only caused Igaguri to get into a coma but killed Kuchinawas' parents in the process, but then you and your twin start to attack and kill some of the guards. You will now feel pain first and then the sweet release of death for what you have done!" The guard who spoke was a slightly older male, who's name was Chen (Chin). His hair was black with a few white hairs here and there. He also had a long beard so he looked more like a monk than a guard. He spun his sword vertically once with his right hand before gripping it tightly at the hilt.

"You're not listening to me! She's evil and I am here to k-" Sheena was interrupted by the last guard.

"We not believing anything you're saying! What you have done to Huri and the others will not go without the ultimate punishment." This guard was younger than the other two so it was clear he's has been a guard for about a year or so. A young adult named Zaire (Zz-air) that also had full black hair but blue eyes. He was shorter than the other two guards as he stood at the other side of Bai.

"I don't want to fight any of you, especially you Kuchinawa! Please just listen to reason! Zaire, you know me personally, I wouldn't do something this awful to our people!" Sheena attempted to reason with the guards one last time. She knew they wasn't actually real but they could become a major hindrance in her battle against Dheena.

"We're not taking any chances with you two. We have your support, right Kuchinawa?" Bai asked while the flames now covered the walls from the inside, which was causing the heat in the hunt to slowly increase. Also a reddish orange glow surrounded the hunt.

"You have my full support. They're going down!" Kuchinawa said loudly as he gripped his dagger

"Well this has become a lot more interesting, hasn't it, Sheena?" Dheena sounded delighted at the circumstances that she, Sheena, Kuchinawa ,and the guards were in.

Sheena slowly turned her back to the guards to face Dheena. "I am going to beat you so I can return to the real word and be Illuminated. Nor you, Kuchinawa, or the guards are going to stop me!" She held her hands out, the cards of light returning back to her hands and she got into her fighting stance.

Sheena then thought in her mind. "Man, my luck just sucks! Fighting five people at once!"

Dheena slowly crossed her arms and her head tilted to the side while a wide grin appeared on her face.

"Hmph! Get ready to attack!" Bai said loudly. Chen, Zaire, and Kuchinawa nodded as they was ready to.


	24. 11th order

Zelos soon laid Sheena onto the bed. He noticed how tightly she was holding the Gates of Hell cards to her chest with both of her hands.

"The cards are white.. with no other details on them. Does this mean her trail's not over yet?" Zelos asked himself in his mind. He attempted to grab the cards from Sheena's hands, but his fingers was greeted to a burn.

"Argh, son of a bi-!" Zelos jumped up and down. Holding his burnt fingers with his other hand while blowing on them.

Everyone heard Zelos and quickly came into the room.

Lloyd, being quick to attack, instantly took out his duel swords. "Zelos, what's wrong?!"

"I burned my fingers trying to get the cards out of Sheena's hands." Zelos sat down onto a chair that was next to the bed, dunking his second degree burnt fingers into a glass of cold water.

Raine went forward and looked down at the cards. Soon enough, she felt extreme heat coming from Sheena's body and stepped back. "There's some kind of heat coming from her body and the cards didn't transform to their light element counterpart fully."

Emil slowly turned to look at Colette. Seeing the girl huffing, sweating, and looking very tired. "Colette, what's wrong?"

Everyone turned to look at Colette.

"S-Sheena's body is.. expelling a lot of heat from her left a-arm." Colette wiped her sweaty forehead with her forearm. "A-And the mana in her body is linked to me n-now, and vise versa."

Lloyd went to Colette and guided her to the couch.

Emil scratched the back of his head. "What does this mean then? I mean, why is Sheena's arm heating up like that?"

Regal spoke, "It might have to do with whatever new ability she possesses now. Also, this is similar to what Colette went though before. In a way, Colette half finished her trail at the Tower of Mana. Then finished the second half of the trail here."

Raine nodded in agreement. "Right. So Sheena just only finished one half. I also think that whatever ability she has now is unstable and effecting Colette. Their personal mana's are linked but Sheena can't help with the "load", so Colette, for right now, has to carry for herself and Sheena."

"Okay, so what do we have to do now?" Mithos asked.

Everyone didn't know what the next step was. Until Lloyd loudly said. "The people from Palmacosta!"

Everyone looked at him with slight confusion on their faces.

"Don't you get it? They are being controlled by the cards, right? Just like Yukunan's family, whom was being controlled by Apocalypse earlier. We have set their minds free." Lloyd explained.

Yuan leaned onto the wall behind Zelos. "That might be the case, but there are too many for Mithos, Tenebrae, and Colette to go to all at once. Just freeing Yukunan's mind was hard enough. Also, Colettes' in no condition to do such a feat yet again."

"Hm, you are right.. dammit." Lloyd let Colette's head rest on his lap while he crossed his arms and looked up.

Genis reassured Lloyd. "You're on the right track, I think. The people of Palmacosta must have a major part in Sheena completing her trail."

"I agree to, but we have to do it in a different way." Raine said.

Zelos's eyes slowly looked towards Sheena's left arm, seeing symbols appear all over her arm. "Guys, look!"

Everyone turned their attention. They also saw the symbols seemly to be embedded onto Sheena's left arm.

"W...What do they say?" Genis asked, keeping enough distance from Sheena but still being able to see the symbols clearly.

Presea blinked. The symbols looked very familiar to her. "The symbols are that of the 11th order.."

"11th order?" Kratos looked down towards Presea.

Emil placed his hand under his chin. "I heard mentions of the 11th order through Ratatosk. He said that the 11th order was some organization that started up way before the Great Kharlan War."

"What did this organization do?" Tenebrae asked.

Emil smiled nervously. "I don't really remember because I didn't pay attention, heh.."

"Urgh.." Tenebrae shook his head in disappointment.

Presea explained. "The 11th order was an evil organization made up only by half elves, that started up one thousand years before the Great Kharlan War. They knew of the world named Niflheim existed and wanted that world to rule over this world for unknown reasons. They almost got Niflheim to break through the seal that Ratatosk made, but they was stopped by the Imperial Army of Toren (Tour-when). One of the leaders of the 11th order was able to send the essences of the other members in the order to Niflheim before being killed off completely."

Raine was curious as to how Presea knew this. "How do you know that, Presea?"

Presea looked towards Raine,."Kate, from the Royal Research Academy, told me this when I visit her about three months ago."

"Does she have anymore stories to tell?!" Raine was getting excited and happy due to the fact that she could learn something she never heard of before.

Genis was embarrassed by how his older sister was acting. "Sis, this is not the time, geez.."

"Why haven't you mention this to us before." Yuan asked

"Because up until now, I didn't think the 11th order wouldn't had nothing to do with this." Presea simply said.

"So are you saying that the symbols on Sheena's arm came from that evil organization?" Marta was on edge.

Presea nodded to her question. Just then, Colette quickly sat up from the couch and her whited out eyes was wide open. The same symbols appearing on the eyes. Sheena also sat up from the bed with her eyes wide open. The Gates of Hell cards having a vivid white aura around them to. Both females sat there in place, not even moving.

Lloyd quickly jumped from the couch and went to the rest of the group. He was scared and had surprised look, just like everyone else. "W-What the hell's going on now?!"

"I think that the essences of the 11th order is in them!" Zelos was backing up with everyone else.

Colette and Sheena soon floated from the bed and couch, seemly going towards the group. Their facial expressions was emotionless.

"I don't fight our friends, you guys!" Mithos cried out.

Kratos quickly pulled out his sword. "I am afraid we don't have a choice here, Mithos."

"Wait, hold on! There has to be a better way!" Lloyd stood in front of Kratos.

Everyone watched Sheena and Colette actually float pass them and out of the room.

"...C-Come on, lets follow them!" Lloyd quickly left room. Everyone else followed right behind Lloyd.

The front door opened on it's own when both females got close to it. Outside, it was the mind controlled Palmacosta residence.

"Oh man..." Zelos looked across the field. They was completely surrounded.

Colette slowly pointed her finger to Neil. Sheena's left arm was soon covered by a holy like white flames and aimed towards the man. Without hesitation, she fired a beam of white flames to the male, causing a bright flash of light to be emitted followed by a huge explosion. The wind from the explosion knocked back the rest of the group to the ground. The explosion also waking up Yukunan's family.

Lloyd quickly looked forward, seeming the white flames and smoke cover an area, "S-Sheena! Colette! W-Why a-are you killing them?!"

Colette pointed to a teen aged boy and Sheena fired a beam of white flames towards the boy. Another bright light covered the area, blinding the group. All of the sudden, Sheena was firing more beams at the people that Colette pointed to. The ground was shaking due to multiple explosion now rocking the area.

Soon, the series of explosions stopped. Mithos and Genis was the first ones to see a ring of tall, white flames surrounding them and the Inn. They couldn't see if there was any people left alive.

"Oh my goodness...Why?" Marta stood up with her right hand to her chest. She couldn't believe what just happened.

Colette and Sheena slowly landed onto the ground. The flames around Sheena's arm disappeared but the symbols remained. The symbols on Colette's eyes vanished overtime. Both females then got on their hands and knees, starting to pant.

The group saw this as a chance to get to Colette and Sheena, so they ran to them.

Lloyd got onto his right knee in front of Colette.

Zelos sat in front of Sheena, being hesitant to touch her, but he spoke. "Sheena... why did you kill them?"

Colette said in a tired voice and raspy voice. "S-She didn't kill them.. She collected the rest of the darkness in the people."

"But we just watched her shot a white beam at them. No one could had survived from all of that." Lloyd said.

"Look guys." Mithos point forward.

Everyone looked towards the white flames and saw human shaped shadows in the flames. Soon enough, the residence of Palmacosta walked out of the white flames. The people looked confused. Some rubbing their heads, others talking to each other about what just happened.

"How?" Zelos asked.

Sheena tiredly sat up on her knees. The Gates of Hell cards was very slowly transforming in her hands, "I guess white flames won't hurt the innocent."

Everyone looked back at Colette and Sheena.

"We will let them explain what just happened, but first we need to talk to Neil. We have to get Yukunan's family to a good shelter in Palmacosta." Sheena said.

Lloyd helped Colette up, while Zelos did the same thing for Sheena. The white flames died down and they all talked to Neil about what happen and that Yukunan's family needs to be in a shelter. Yukunan's family just then came out of the Inn. A few minutes passed and everything was arranged for Yukunan's family.

The group went inside of the Inn now so they all could talk privately.

"Alright, Colette and Sheena, explain to us what just happened." Raine said.

Colette and Sheena started to explain.

* * *

In a flash back, Lloyd helped Colette sit down onto couch. She looked at Emil talking before passing out.

Her eyes opened and she could see Sheena looking down at her.

"S-Sheena? Where are we?" Colette asked while quickly sitting up.

"I don't even know. I woke up here just like you. There's nothing but white everywhere, and it's driving me crazy.." Sheena helped Colette onto her feet.

Colette's whited out eyes looked around. She could see a stream of Grey colored mana on the ground. It was flowing to the left, "I see a mana flow, Sheena. I think we should follow it."

"Yeah. We ain't doing nothing else here." Sheena said.

Sheena followed behind Colette. Colette stopped suddenly and Sheena bumped into her.

"Oof. Why did you stop?" Sheena asked.

Colette turned around to look at Sheena. "The mana flow ends right here. I don't know where else to go."

Sheena sighed and looked to her left. She quickly got spooked out by four men in dark ruby colored robes. She tripped and fell onto her rear to the floor. "W-Who are you guys?!"

Colette looked towards the four men as well. The men's faces couldn't be seen due to the hood over their heads casting a shadow over the top half of their faces. Only their lips and chin were exposed.

One of the men spoke. "11 et nos sumus, ut tibi nihil mali fecerit. Tu, et Sheena Colette, temperare oportet illuminari habiles esse. Populi Palmacosta reguntur per portas mortis metus. Verum ut ad portas mortis lux contraria parte schedularum, oportet tenebras perderent populum invaluit. Oculi tui videant tenebris, sanctae Coletae possidere quod directe in eis credit, sicut supra dictum est, de populo in obnoxius. Sheena flammae et incendia perderent." (Mostly translate to: We are the 11th order and we do not mean any harm to you. You, Sheena and Colette must control your illuminated abilities. The people of Palmacosta are controlled by the darkness that cames from the Gates of Hell cards. You must destroy the darkness that controls them in order to make the Gates of Hell cards become the light counterpart. Colette, your holy eyes will be able to see where the darkness is hosting within whom ever body. You must guild Sheena where to shoot and the holy flames she now possesses will be able to destroy the darkness.)

Colette tilted her head to the side, understanding some words the man just said.

Sheena got up onto her feet, being a little angry that the man was speaking another language. "Can you speak English, please?"

"Hm, he said something about 11th order, Gates of Hell cards, and Palmacosta." Colette was a little wary. Hoping she was right.

The men would appear in front of Sheena and Colette and placed their hands upon the female's foreheads. Colette screamed and Sheena tried to move back from them, but couldn't move what so ever. The symbols slowly appearing on Sheena's left arm while Colette's eyes had the same symbols on her white eyes.

* * *

"And that's all I remember." Sheena rubbed her head lightly.

Raine then looked towards Colette, "You said that one of men mention something about the 11th order, yes?"

Colette nodded to Raines' question.

Presea then asked. "Do you remember what the robes looked like?"

Colette looked up. "They were dark red, had an eagle emblem on the front part of the hoods and it had some weird text around the belts on their waists."

"They were the 11th order." Presea in a softer tone.

"Hm. If that's true, why didn't they just simply attack them? From what I have seen and just now heard, I think that actually helped Colette and Sheena." Kratos said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"You think so?" Marta asked to Kratos.

Kratos nodded. "I think that those men actually took control of Colette's and Sheena's body when they put their hands on them because they realized that both of them couldn't understand what might had been instructions to help the people of Palmacosta."

Zelos rubbed his forehead with slight confusion. "But isn't the 11th order evil? Why would they even help them like that?"

"That, I do not know." Kratos said.

Raine looked towards Presea. "Are you sure the 11th order is perceived as an evil organization?"

Presea simply nodded to the question.

"What's on your mind, Raine?" Genius asked.

Raine slowly placed her hand under her chin while thinking. "I am having a feeling that there is more to the 11th order than what Presea was told by Kate. I wonder if the Imperial Army of Toren still exist somewhere. They will exactly know what the 11th order truly is."

"We should go to Sybak tomorrow and visit Kate. She might know where the army resides at." Yuan said.

"Right, but first we all need a good night's sleep. I am so tired.." Genius lightly yawned.

Mithos agreed and stretched a little.


	25. Regals' calling

After saying goodbye to Neil, Yukunan's family, and the people of Palmacosta. The group retired into the Inn to get a good night's rest.

Everyone was asleep except for Zelos, Sheena, Colette, Raine, Presea, Kratos, and Yuan, whom were all sitting in a circle in the middle of the huge bedroom.

Zelos slowly grasped Sheena's left hand and looked at the symbols on her arm. "I wonder what they mean.."

Sheena had a look of disgust when looking at the mythical symbols on her arm. "They look horrid."

"Colette or Presea, do you think you can decipher what the symbols might mean?" Raine asked.

Colette crawled forward and sat in front of Sheena, taking her left hand with her hands while Presea sat near the left side of Sheena, looking down at her symbol covered arm.

Colette's nearly whited out eyes focus first on the forearm before looking at the rest of the arm. "Hm.. this symbol right here.", Colette lightly pressed her index finger on one of the symbols near Sheena's elbow that looked like a red letter 'X' with a circle background and four small white daggers pointing to the 'X', "Means power."

"Yes. That does mean power. Power over evil." Presea then pointed to the red 'X' in the symbol. "Anything that is red, means evil. While anything white means good, holy, and innocent." Presea said.

Since Raine was learning something new, she was very close to Sheena's arm with excitement in her eyes. She was so close to Sheena's arm that Sheena could feel Raines' cold breathe breeze upon the skin, which was making her shiver.

"Raine, you don't have to be so close!" Sheena said in a loud whisper, as to not wake everyone up.

"My apologizes, but this is all so fascinating." Raine Cooed.

Sheena sighed and rolled her eyes while Zelos chuckled.

Presea then asked. "Sheena. How does your arm feel?"

"It feels heavy and very warm." Sheena eyed at her arm. She also moved her fingers, which was also covered in symbols, back and forward.

"And Colette, how does her arm look to you?" Presea looked towards Colette when asking.

Colette blinked a few times. "It looks mostly white with see through flames surrounding it."

"Kate told me that the 11th order had some interesting powers invested in them. I am now suspecting that one set of those powers will be granted to us when we complete our trails." Presea sat back down onto the ground.

"That seems to make sense." Yuan said.

Zelos looked up at the ceiling, speaking out what's been bugging him. "The 11th order doesn't seem to be evil. Don't you agree, Raine?"

Raine nodded. "Like I said before, there seems to be more to this 11th order than what was told to you Presea. The fact that men from was from the 11th order seem to help you Colette and Sheena, and another fact is that the powers granted to you both is very holy. It all opposes what an evil organization would do."

Sheena looked at Presea. "Do you think that stories of the 11th order has been twisted? I mean, it's possible that the 11th order is good and the Imperial Army of Toren is evil."

Presea simply nodded and said nothing else.

Kratos closed his eyes and then crossed his arms. "If that's the case, then hopefully the Imperial Army of Toren is long gone. We wouldn't have time to fight an entire army if they got in the way."

Sheen yawned and got up from the ground. "Well we can worry about that when the time comes. Right now, we should get some rest."

* * *

While the rest went to bed, Kratos and Yuan was out in the front porch of the Inn. Soon, Mithos joined them, sitting on the first steps of the stairs.

"Kratos, Yuan.. Did the past me ever mentioned anything about the 11th order or the Imperial Army of Toren?" Mithos asked.

Yuan slowly sat right besides Mithos. "No you didn't. But how could you anyways? All that stuff happened one thousand years before the Great Kharlan War."

"But wouldn't you think we would had found some kind of sign of both groups existing at some point?" Mithos looked towards Yuan.

Kratos than spoke. "Perhaps, but most likely the Great Kharlan War erased any evidence of either group."

"Hm, I see.." Mithos slowly placed his forearms on top of his knees since he was sitting in a fetal position. His eyes looked lost in thoughts.

Kratos saw this. "Is there something else on your mind, Mithos?"

"I just.. miss my sister and Pronyma.. How do guys feel about Pronyma?" Mithos was curious to what their answer was going to be.

Kratos slowly leaned forward, placing his forearms on the wooden railing while looking forward. "If you want the honest truth from me. I didn't care much for her in the past and I still don't in a way."

Mithos had a shock look. "How could you say that..?"

"I say that because she enjoyed hurting people." Kratos simply said.

Mithos got up from the stairs, determined to make Kratos feel a different way for Pronyma. "Yeah, that is because I messed up her mind. It wasn't completely her fault!"

Kratos then looked towards Mithos. "You attempted to the do same thing to me and Yuan, but neither of us broke down and we didn't enjoy hurting people. I don't see the excuse for her to be how she was back then."

"But." Mithos was interrupted by Yuan. "Mithos, calm down. It's Kratos's opinion on her, no use trying to change his mind about her."

Mithos sighed and sat back down onto the stairs. "Well what's your opinion on her?"

Yuan looked up at the clear night sky. "Well, in a way I did feel sorry for her and I still do. She, just like most half elves, didn't have a good up bringing. So she must have felt the world would be perfect if it was just lifeless half elves. And the fact that she most likely loved you and you killed her... hm."

"Despite how I feel about her, Mithos, I will help in any way possible to have her soul be free from Abyssion's grasps. She at least deserves that." Kratos said.

"Thank you Kratos and Yuan." Mithos had a slight smile on his lips.

* * *

At first light, the whole group was outside, rejuvenated and ready for anything.

Lloyd stretched and loudly yawned, "Oh yeah! I am ready for this!"

Colette giggled at Lloyd while Sheena shook her head.

"Calm down Lloyd, you won't be doing anything right now. Regal will be doing his trail now." Raine looked towards Regal, who was holding the complete set of Apocalypse leg guards.

Emil than asked. "So since we defeated the demonic versions of Yukunan's family. Does that mean Regal finished the first half of his trail?"

"I assume yes. I can't think of any other test that Regal would had to go through now besides this." Yuan placed his hands behind his back.

Presea, standing next to Regal, looked up at him. "How do you feel?"

Regal lightly smiled. His blue, somewhat bushy, bangs covered his eyes just a bit. "I am not going to lie, I am pretty nervous as I have never gone through something like this before."

Sheena slowly placed her hand onto Regal's shoulder, "It's okay to be nervous. I was nervous to and I am pretty sure Colette was to."

"I sure was, but even I overcame the odds and got illuminated. You can do it to, Regal!" Colette said excitedly.

Regal nodded and got onto his knees now. Placing the black leg guards onto the ground in front of him. He sighed in attempt to relax his tensed body and focus on the demonic voices that was being emitted from the leg guards.

* * *

Regal soon opened his eyes and he was in the Ball room in the castle in Meltokio. He was wearing a black tux with a pink flower on the pen pocket of the suit. His eyes was scanning the room quickly, seeing everyone looking towards him, as if they was shocked to see him.

"How dare you be here?! You damn murder!" One male said while spilling his wine on the rug. The male's date holding him back from attacking Regal.

Regal looked at the angered male before realizing he was at a period of when people knew he killed Alicia. "I had no choice but to kill her. She begged me to." Regal tried to explain.

The people in the room began to up roar at Regal. Throwing food and drinks at him while yelling "Lair!" and "Murderer!". Regal covered his face with his arms, able to slightly see between his arms that covered his face. He soon saw Vharley, who was standing there and laughing at him.

"Vharley!" Regal rushed through the crowd of people, pushing men and women to the side.

Vharley tried to get out of the room but was quickly grabbed by Regal, who than lifted him up from the ground by the collar.

"How could you make Alicia transform into a monster?!" Regal yelled.

Vharley said, in between choking and gasping noises. "It w-wasn't my fault that her b-body was weak! You was n-never going to have a family with her a-anyways! How would it l-look to your image and your c-company's image if people w-would had found out you was seeing someone who looked half your a-age?! She d-deserved to die! What are you g-going to do, kill me to right in front of a-all these people?!"

A shadow was casted over Regal's eyes due to his bangs covering his eyes when he tilted his head down. The people was still yelling and throwing food at him. He soon released Vharley, and quickly did a spin kick. His foot connected to Vharley's head, kicking it clean off his shoulders and it landed on one of the tables. Vharley's headless body would kneel down and slump over to the ground. Blood spraying out from the open neck.

Just then, the guards came into the ball room, surrounding Regal. One of the guards looked at the headless body. "My god... you monster! You will be locked up for the rest of your life!"

One of the guards came up behind Regal, attempting to place hand cuffs on his wrist, but Regal did a front kick flip, sending the guard crashing into some of the other guards.

"That's it! Kill him!" The guards rushed towards Regal with their sword and staffs aimed at him. While the rest of the people was screaming and running for their lives.

In a matter of seconds, Regal was sending some of the guards through tables and walls while others was being impaled by his powerful thrust kicks, which was easily going through the armor they were wearing.

"You evil, c-corrupted son of a bi-" The wounded guard that was talking got a powerful kick in the face by Regal, instantly killing the man.

Regal seemed to be in deep distress. His hair was messy and he was sweating. "Corrupted?! This whole city is corrupted! G-Gurghhhhhnhh!"

Regal got onto his knees and held his head tightly. The voices in his head were getting loud. Some of the voices saying "Jealousy", "No family", "No love".

A dark being was now seen being split off from Regal's body, causing Regal to be in great physical pain. The dark being managed to get out of Regal's body and stand in the pool of blood that was surrounding Vharley's headless body.

Regal, huffing and on his knees, slowly turned to look up at the being, who looked exactly like him except it's eyes was pitch black and it's hair was a darker blue.

"So... you must be the evil side of me.." Regal said nervously while getting up to be at eye level with the dark being.

The dark being didn't say anything back to Regal, though it's breathing could be slightly heard with a slight echo effect behind the exhale of air.


	26. Messed up trail

"Hmm.. So what do I call you?" Regal asked, already having his composure back.

"...Feral." The dark being simply said.

Regal was already thinking of a plan on how to beat his evil counterpart while he got into his fighting stance.

"Do you really want to attack me. Regal?" Feral asked in a surprising soft voice.

The question made Regal lose his train of thought. His eyes widen as he looked at Feral. It was odd for Regal that such a being would even ask that kind of question.

Feral gripped his hands together behind his back while blinking once. "Well?"

Regal, trying to not show he was caught off guard by the previous question, clear his throat. "Yes, I do. You are the embodiment of the corruption and evil in me. I must dispel you from my body and mind."

Feral remained silent and simply stared at Regal.

"Why doesn't he attack me..? He just standing there and he isn't even guarding himself." Regal thought to himself.

There was a somewhat awkward silence that loomed in the ballroom. This silence was getting unnerving to Regal as he remained in his fighting stance. Feral on the other hand didn't seem bothered by the silence.

After ten seconds of not a single noise being heard, Regal suddenly got a sense of fear and upcoming danger. His heart was pounding hard in his built chest. His throat felt dry and parched, as if he didn't had nothing to drink for two days. "What is this overwhelming sense of fear?! It's like... I already know he's going to beat me..." Regal said in his mind. His eyes still somewhat wide, trying his best not to show his state of mind was weakening.

Feral finally spoke again, which spooked Regal a little. "Regal... I know about the desires, dreams, and temptations that go through your mind on a daily basis. You haven't... 'satisfy' yourself ever since Alicia died. You know that isn't good for your mental health."

Regal was taken back even more by what Feral stated, he then asked. "And why do you care about my mental health?"

"I may be the embodiment of evil that you have, but I do care about the body that we share. Well... the body I will take after I defeat you. As we speak, I am already beating you." Feral simply stated.

Regal retorted quickly. "Mental mind games will not determine the battle's outcome."

Feral slowly shook his head. "Regal, it seems like you have lost touch with your fighting spirit. If you can play and manipulate your opponent's state of mind, then you can make them feel something that will make their focus split."

Regal couldn't believe what he was hearing, because Feral was actually right and telling the truth. This shock of realization was hindering Regal from fully concentrating on the matter at hand. Feral soon stopped talking once again and simply stared back at Regal. The unsettling silence returned in the ballroom.

* * *

Outside of Regal's mind, the group were watching Regal tremble. His breathing was fast and deep while sweat droplets formed on his face, as if he got done training and excising.

"What's wrong with Regal? Why does he look like that?" Marta asked, clearly being worried for Regal.

Tenebrae studied Regal and his tail stiffen straight up. He could sense a flood of pure darkness within Regal's mind. He then asked Colette. "Do you see what I see, Colette?"

Colette nodded to the question. "The darkness... it's so horrible and so strong. I don't even sense Regal's normal mana anywhere" Just being able to see how much was inside Regal's head gave Colette deep chills up and down her spine.

Lloyd looked towards Tenebrae, "So does that mean he's losing?!"

Tenebrae gave a slight nod to Lloyd.

Lloyd slightly bit his bottom lip before stating. "But his body isn't showing any kind of damage."

Mithos soon spoke up. "The being must be mentally fighting Regal."

Everyone looked towards Mithos.

"Care to explain what you mean?" Kratos asked of Mithos.

"Well I mean... Regal is very strong minded. So maybe the evil side of him is also strong minded to. It's trying to play mind games with Regal. I remember people saying the phrase 'Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.' That phrase is a lie... words can do far more damage than any punches and kicks could do." Mithos said.

Genis added on after Mithos. "He's right. Physical damage can hurt yes, but when someone says something to you that they know will effect you mentally, it's far more damaging."

Presea, whom wasn't one to show much emotion, was starting to get heavily worried about Regal. Her eyes got slightly red from trying to hold back tears.

Raine saw Presea getting stressed about the situation and slowly placed her hand on top of the girl's head. "Don't worry everyone. Even if the evil side of Regal is strong minded, Regal will overcome it all and will be victorious. Do you believe in that Presea?"

"Yes, I do believe that." Presea said, feeling a little better already.

* * *

"Why don't I attack him now? Why is this overwhelming fear holding me back? I have felt fear before and used it as fuel to defeat my opponents. Why can't I do it the same to this opponent?" Regal asked himself.

Feral started to talk once again. "I never understood why you didn't move on from Alicia. You could of started a relationship with Presea. You know this, yes?"

"I could never be in that type of relationship with Presea. I love her as a sister, nothing more or less. Now enough with all of this. Prepare yourself for battle." Regal had his serious demeanor once again.

"Very well." Feral simply said but didn't move an inch.

Regal wasn't going to let the silence come back to haunt him. He rushed towards Feral. Before he knew it though, Feral was right in front of him.

"U-Urgh... what is t-this pain in my stomach!" Regal said loudly and his eyes moved down. To his shock, Feral's left knee was pressed deeply on his stomach. Regal was also confused as to how this being could had moved so fast.

Feral slowly closed his eyes. "Regal, I have already beaten you. Your mind is weak now because of my questions and the silence. A weak mind will never win this kind of battle."

The dark being then drove his knee deeper onto Regal's damaged stomach. This caused Regal to cough of blood.

Before Regal could even think about moving away, Feral backhanded him to the ground.

Regal landed on the ground. To his dismay, it seemed like the attacks did more damage than it should had. His cheek that got smacked had a red, shiny lump. He placed his hand on his cheek, only to be greeted with a boot that came down to his face. His head slammed through tiles of the floor. Feral began to grind the bottom of his boot onto Regal's now bloody and bruised face.

* * *

The group watched in horror at how quickly Regal was getting deep bruises and cuts on his face.

"What the hell is going on?! He shouldn't be losing this badly at all!" Emil said out of fear. He felt so helpless as he watch his blue hair friend cough of blood once again.

"..He's going to lose if he doesn't make a come back." Tenebrae closed his eyes, in disbelief at how the darkness was spreading all around Regal's body so quickly.

Presea just stood there, trembling with tears falling from her eyes and down her cheeks. Her hands clutched together on her chest. She felt an unbearable sense of sadness and fear in her heart as she was basically watching Regal lose a battle that she thought he would easily win.

* * *

"You have never fully moved passed what you did to Alicia. That's very weak of you on your part. But don't worry, I will help you get passed it. And in the process, I going to have fun with Presea." Feral watched as Regal's hands gripped his legs and heard a loud muffled scream of rage emitting from the male.

Regal lost it when hearing what Feral was going to do with Presea. He finally managed to lift the boot off his face but a pair of hands gripped his neck and lifted him off the floor.

Regal landed powerful kicks and punches to Feral's face, but it seemed like the attack didn't do much to the being. Feral soon slammed Regal onto floor with full force. The floor cracked and caved in slightly from the impact. Regal grunted out in pain but took this chance to drive his knee onto Feral's stomach. The knee hit it's mark but Feral didn't release his grip on Regal's neck.

Regal's attacks seemed very weak. Feral lifted Regal from the ground by his neck and once again slammed the blue hair male to the floor. At this point, the tiles on the floor was in pieces. Regal, though being being in intense pain, would land knock out inducing punches onto Feral's face. Though the being's face was now leaking dark red blood and had bruises as well, he didn't seem to be effected at the least.

"You attacks do hurt but it's not enough to make me let you go. Don't worry, I will end all of this now." Feral's thumbs deeply pressed upon the Adam's apple while his fingers curled around the male's neck with unimaginable strength. Regal's eyes widen and he made choking noises.

Regal had his hands open palmed and aimed towards Feral's face. Blue energy gather on the palms before a huge wave of pent up mana ripple out of his hands and blasted onto Feral's face. After five seconds, the blast died down.

To Regal's horror, Feral's face had third degree burns, with skin peeling off in different areas, his hair completely gone. But even after all that, Feral didn't seem to register the amount of damage he just took. It was as if he was immune to feeling pain.

"A honorable effort but fruitless results at the end, Regal." Feral said as he ran forward, having Regal's neck in his hands. He slammed the male onto the wall and continue to choke Regal with no signs of letting go.

* * *

Dark hand prints was around Regal's neck and the group saw this. They then heard him choking as his body fell onto the dirt floor.

"Regal!" Lloyd said loudly as the group gather around closer to Regal.

Colette began to cry, seeing a dark pair of hands having a grip on his neck. Her voice caught in her throat a few times as she spoke. "It's s-starting to c-choke him!"

Mithos was getting mad, having the sense of helplessness wash of him like everyone else, "Dammit, isn't there anything we can do?! We're going to lose him!"

"Regal has to go through this alone.." Yuan remorsefully said.

Zelos thought for a second and then asked. "Does this mean we'll have to fight Regal? I am sure his dark side will take control of his body if it wins.."

"No!" Presea yelled out as she placed her hands upon Regal's shoulder and began to shake him, trying to wake him up.

"Presea no!" Raine was the first one to grab Presea by her hips and soon everyone got a hold of the distressed woman.

* * *

"We are Apocalypse now!" Feral voice echoed.

Regal's red, watery eyes got a glimpse of Feral. His heart sank when he saw the once near expressionless face of Feral change. He saw Feral's lips have an inhumanly wide smile that stretched from cheek to cheek, his eyes went pitch red and his body turned black before dispersing and covering the entire room.

* * *

It took the group a few good tugs on Presea to break her strong grip on Regal's shirt. Presea could be heard crying and screaming as she tried to get out of everyone's grip. While this was happening, Regal's eyes slowly opened and he blinked a few times before sitting up quickly.

Everyone heard the movements that Regal made when sitting up and turned to look at him.

Presea broke free and got to Regal first before anyone else and asked urgently. "Regal, are you okay?! Did you win?!"

Regal slowly looked at his hands before looking down at Presea, giving her a reassuring smile.


	27. Hard Light

Presea, seeing Regal's smile, brought her instant relief and comfort as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

While the rest of the group asked Regal what happened during his trail, Colette looked to the left and saw a black color wave of mana quickly coming towards them. The wave was so tall that it seem to have no peak.

"Everyone, get dow- Ahhhh!" Colette shouted out as the wave went passed her and the group. Her eyes was soon overwhelmed by a sharp stinging sensation, as if they had no moisture in them. The pain caused her to fall back and cover her eyes with her hands.

Before the rest of the group could even change their focus to Colette, Mithos started to scream out with his hands on his head.

Sheena was gripping her left arm with her right hand. Her left arm felt like their was hot flames on it. The agony caused her to cry out. The symbols on her arm was glowing a bright red and pulsing.

At the same time, a huge earthquake was rippling through out the area. This earthquake was far more stronger and fierce than the last. The ground under Genis's feet was starting to split and crack up.

Kratos, being quick with decisions and planning, placed his hands onto the ground. A bright light, which form into a flat square shape, appeared under everyone's feet and lifted them up from the peeling ground. The houses in Hima was falling apart by the powerful earthquake. Pieces of rock from the cliff side was breaking off and landing onto the village. Strangely, Regal was completely calm and collective during all of this.

Lloyd crawled over to Colette, whom was still yelling out and rubbing her eyes. "Colette, what's wrong?!"

"My eyes! They burn!" That's all Colette could say before falling back and passing out. Sheena and Mithos passed out along with her.

The earthquake finally subsided. Kratos looked down and saw the village completely destroyed, so he just let the light keep everyone above the ground.

"The dark mana levels has increased.." Yuan said as chills went down his spine.

Raine managed to lay Colette, Sheena, and Mithos right next to one another.

Emil then asked. "Do you think Mithos is fighting Abyssion again?"

Raine nodded to his question and a smile formed on her lips, "And I think Mithos has help this time."

* * *

Inside Mithos's mind, the setting was at Mizuho at night time. The blonde boy woke up to see Colette on her knees right beside him and Sheena standing over him. "Hm? What are you guys doing here?"

"Don't really know. My eyes started to hurt and next thing I know, I was here with you and Sheena." Colette said calmly.

Mithos stood up, to see that they was in the forest at the outskirts of Mizuho. He then turned to look at Illumination mark between Sheena's breast and he tilted his head to the side.

Sheena quickly thought Mithos was trying to catch a look of breast and she yelled. "Hey, what you looking at?!"

Mithos and Colette jumped from her out burst. Mithos soon explained himself. "T-The mark on your breast, when did you get that?"

Sheena looked down, just now noticing the mark as well. Colette than said. "She had that as soon as she completed her trail."

Mithos thought for a bit and asked. "Do you know where yours is, Colette?"

Colette nodded. "Mhm. It's on my chest. Want to see?"

"N-No thanks! I believe you." Mithos had a slight red tint on his face. Colette was a little confused as to why he was blushing.

Sheena was glad Mithos had respect for women, Unlike Zelos, causing her to shake her head a little.

"Well I was asking becau- Mithos was interrupted by rustling could be heard at the left side of the forest. All three of them got ready to see Abyssion.

Abyssion came out from the shadows the tree made. At first Abyssion was smiling but the smile soon disappeared as he saw Colette and Sheena by Mithos's side. "What?! Why are you two here?!"

Mithos saw Abyssion being confused and he wanted to take this chance to attack him now. "Attack!"

Sheena was already one step ahead of Mithos as she already closing in on Abyssion. She sent her right fist to Abyssion's abdomen. Out of nowhere though, Kuchinawa got in front of the dark being, and blocked the fist.

"Kuchinawa?!" Sheena was shocked to see him again.

"Sheena move out of the way!" Mithos sent out an orb of light straight towards Kuchinawa.

Being quick on his toes, Kuchinawa grabbed Sheena by her head before she could move and held her in front of the upcoming orb. Sheena was quick to, as she block the orb with her flaming left hand and then sent her left elbow back. Kuchinawa however moved his head to the side so the elbow could miss and he threw her forward towards Colette.

Mithos looked up, seeing Abyssion coming towards them. "Die Abyssion!" Mithos cried out as he was in the air. His Cruxis wings was out and he flew straight towards Abyssion.

"It's a good thing all three of you are here. That means I can kill three birds with one stone!" Abyssion exclaim as he brought his arms close to his chest, creating a dark force field around his body.

As soon as Mithos's fist struck the field, it pushed the boy back to Colette and Sheena. They both caught him and looked at Abyssion.

"He's charging for an attack!" Colette could see a surge of pure dark mana spilling into Abyssion.

Sheena thought of a plan. "Colette, make your Chakrams float. One in front of the other."

Colette was confused as to why Sheena requested that, but she did as told. The white Chakrams floated just two feet from them.

"Mithos, make a light sword!" Sheena said loudly.

Mithos made a light sword in no time and tossed it to Sheena.

Sheena then grabbed Mithos's light sword and let it float at the center of the Chakrams.

"Sheena, I don't understand what you're trying to do." Mithos was just as confused as Colette.

Sheena smiled at Mithos while explaining. "We're doing a team attack. Concentrate your powers to your sword and Colette, do the same to your Chakrams."

Kuchinawa then said. "Oh no you don't! I will not forgive for what you have done!" The male leaped in front of the Abyssion and gathered up his internal mana.

With the commands given to them, both of them closed their eyes. The sword and the Chakrams was glowing bright white with holy mana and energy.

Sheena slowly held her flaming arm out towards the Chakrams, sending some of the white flames in the middle of it all while aiming it towards Abyssion and Kuchinawa. "You already forgave me, Kuchinawa. But Abyssion won't give you peace, so let me grant peace to you!"

Abyssion saw what they was doing and felt he had enough energy to kill them, so he released the pent up dark energy in an explosion. "Enjoy your last moments!"

"Take this!" Kuchinawa focus fired his pent up mana into a dense beam towards the three.

Sheena smirked and said. "Release it."

Mithos and Colette release the energy they stored up in their weapons and Sheena blasted the flames forward, making the release of energy into a very concentrated, hot, holy beam that was lead by Mithos's sword. The beam easily pierced through Kuchinawa's mana beam and explosion like a drill and made the both attacks dissipate from getting to them. Mithos's sword than struck through Kuchinawa and Abyssion, and with the power of the holy energy and flames to back it up, it sent the demonic king through trees and boulders.

Mithos and Colette was awe struck by how there was a part of the forest that was completely scorched and devoid of trees for thousands of feet. Sheena on the other hand felt very proud of herself and had her hands onto her hips.

"Woah... Sheena, how did you know to do that?" Colette asked out of curiosity.

Sheena answered. "Well I worked with a cannon before and enjoyed working with it. So I figured I make one and do it again."

Mithos was jumping up and down. The nature of being a young teen coming out as he was very amused by the attack. "Oh my goodness, that was so cool! What should we call that attack?"

None of them could think of a name and soon they saw Abyssion limply walking towards them. Mithos's sword was in his chest. Blood was spilling out from various cuts and bruise along his body as he simply said. "Your... light h-hits hard... enjoy this victory why y-you all can, as it will be the l-last one!"

With that Abyssion slowly disappeared, leaving Mithos's sword on the ground.

Mithos went to grab his sword from the ground and made it disappear slowly. He thought about what Abyssion said before dark lord disappeared. As all three of them was fading away as Mithos turned to look at the females. "Hm... how about calling the attack Hard Light?"

Colette and Sheena nodded with smiles on their faces.

* * *

During the first seconds of when Mithos, Colette, and Sheena passed out, Coffee looked towards Regal and was freaked out by how Regal was smiling at it. It looked like just a normal smile, but Coffee knew there was a horrible meaning behind that smile. Out of instinct, Coffee growled at Regal in attempt to alert everyone, but no one was paying attention to Coffee as they was focus on the three who just passed out.

Regal than focus on Presea, whom was still hugging on his waist, He softly spoke. "Presea, look at me."

Presea slowly looked up at the tall, blue hair male. She had a soft smile on her lips as she felt Regal's right hand lightly cup her chin. He soon got onto his right knee to be at eye level with the woman. "I am very sorry that I have worried you."

Presea shook her head just a bit. "It's okay. Did you win though?"

Regal nodded to the question and said nothing more. Presea's eyes seemed to get hazy all of the sudden and Regal smiled a bit more as he leaned forward.

"Look, they're waking up!" Emil said excitedly.

Emil shouting was enough to make Presea snap out in whatever trance she was in. She didn't seem to remember that she was in a trance at all as she walked back on hearing the news. She rejoined the group.

Regal slightly sighed and stood up, walking back to the group while Coffee was still growling at him.

"Wow, did y'all defeat Abyssion that quickly?" Lloyd asked.

"Mhm. Abyssion wasn't expecting Sheena and Colette being with me. And some Ninja guy was trying to help Abyssion to. We did this super cool team attack on him to." Mithos said as he stood up.

"The ninja he is mentioning was Kuchinawa." Sheena explained. She looked at the Gates of Hell cards and they fully transformed in it's light counterpart. The front of the cards show tall heaven gates opening up to white souls while the back of it has moving mixed colors of blue and white. Sheena smiled at the sight of the cards.

"I want to know what the attack was." Genis got curious.

Sheena briefly explained the attack to everyone with honor in her voice. The explanation of the attack even surprised Kratos.

Colette than looked around the area and slightly frown. "This whole place... it looks darker than before."

"That reminds me of something. Colette you was saying something before the earthquake. What was you trying to say?" Marta asked.

Colette thought and remembered, "Oh! I saw this huge wave of dark mana sweeping across the land. It was so tall. Like this tall!" Colette reached up as high as she could with her hands. Genis and Mithos lightly laughed at what Colette was doing.

Regal soon grabbed the Apocalypse leg guards while everyone was talking amongst one another. The color of the leg guards was a very light Grey, not fully white. Regal softly smiled at this but knew the leg guards had to be white, so he concentrated and the color change to white. He also forced his internal mana color to be white as well.

Regal began to huff and everyone heard, so they turned to look at him. Zelos then asked. "Are you okay Regal. Do you need to rest?"

Regal simply nodded and placed the leg guards onto his legs.

Lloyd began to wonder. "Regal. What do you think your new power is?"

Regal shrugged and slowly looked up at the sky.

Everyone looked at Regal, feeling a little awkward at how he answer at the questions. They soon figured maybe he suffering through the draw backs of getting Illuminated.

Coffee began to bark at Regal and Emil slowly picked up the little wolf, trying to calm it down.

"Hm.." Mithos noted how Coffee was acting and whispered to Colette to inspect Regal.

Colette happily obliged and blinked her eyes a few times, being able to see Regal's mana. The mana was white to her so she assumed he got Illuminated. She happily said. "Regal's mana is holy, Mithos. He won his trail."

"Mithos. We need to know where the next Devil's arms weapon is." Kratos said.

"Oh right." Mithos slowly closed his eyes and in no time, he was starting to images of a forest near a village elves. The boy opened his eyes and said. "It's somewhere in a forest next to a village of elves."

Genis quickly said. "It has to be in the Torent Forest next to Heimdall."

Lloyd walked to edge of the square light platform that everyone was still floating on. "Right! Dad, float this thing to Heimdall right away!"

Kratos slowly crossed his arms. "No. Making this cost too much energy. Fly on your Rheairds." With that being said, Kratos made his Cruxis wings appear on his back and flew forward.

Yuan also flew along side with Kratos. Before Lloyd knew it, even Colette, Zelos and Mithos with Genis on his back flew forward with their angelic wings.

"What?! That's not fair!" Lloyd slightly pouted and got into his Rheaird along with everyone else who couldn't fly. He remember when he has wings to when using the Eternal sword.


	28. Diablos

The group was about ten minutes away from Heimdall.

"I can't shake this feeling that something is different about Regal. I know he's a man of few words, but he's usually quiet." Mithos said as he flew up to Kratos.

Kratos slightly looked back at Regal and Presea. What really caught his attention was how Presea seemed to have a trance look on her face as she was flying the Rheaird. "You're right. Let's keep an eye on him."

"How does your arm feel, Sheena?" Zelos asked.

Sheena kept eyeing at Regal. "I don't know what it is but something in my arm is telling to be cautious of Regal."

Zelos blinked. "So.. your arm is talking to you?"

"No it's a feeling in my arm." Sheena said.

"So your arms can have feelings now?" Zelos lightly chuckled.

Sheena shook her head. "Zelos, it's not funny. Something isn't right about Regal."

Zelos moved the Rheaird closer to Regal's Rheaird so he can talk to him. Zelos then asked, "Hey, is everything alright?"

Regal just simply nodded and didn't say nothing else.

Sheena quickly put her left hand onto Regal's wrist. Instantly, his wrist was burning like acid was dropped onto it. This caused Regal to flinch and pull away from Sheena.

"Guys! This isn't Regal! Sheena shouted.

Everyone looked towards Regal and before anyone could get to him, he jumped off the Rheaird with Presea in his arms. Regal's physical appearance changed to that of Feral.

Yuan flew down towards Feral and attempted grab his leg. The leg guards quickly turned black with dark aura surrounding. He shifted his right leg and impact it to Yuan's face, sending the half elf towards Kratos.

Feral than disappeared into the heavy forest below.

"Yuan, you okay?" Mithos asked as he flew next to Kratos.

Yuan nodded and rubbed his cheek. "Regal's face changed. It has to be evil side of him."

"But didn't he finish his trial?" Emil said.

Raine quickly came up with an answer. "Presea must had accidentally disturbed his trial when she grabbed onto him."

"That would make sense." Tenebrae said.

"Why didn't Presea try to break from him?" Lloyd thought.

Sheena thought for a second. "She been acting kind of off around him ever since we left Hima."

"We have to look for both of them." Marta said in a worried tone.

Kratos slowly flew forward while looking down at the forest. "Can anyone see or pick up where Regal is at?"

Colette scanned the area below her feet and could see a faint trail of dark mana heading towards Heimdall. "They're both going towards Heimdall."

Mithos quickly closed his eyes. He started to see images of an ax. "And there's some sort of dark ax on the other side of the forest."

"Diablos! I think I know what he's trying to do and we have to cut him off before he gets there!" Genis said loudly.

Without wasting more time, the group flew towards Heimdall.

* * *

Feral was running through the forest in super speeds and reached Heimdall first. His cold eyes shifting left and right as he tried to feel out where Diablos might be at.

"Regal, is everything okay with Presea?" Said one of the villagers.

Feral nodded and walked passed everyone till he got to the entrance to the other side of the Ymir forest. He then silently said to himself. "I feel it looming this way."

"Hey, it's Regal!" One of the kids said.

This, of course, made most of the kids in the village run to Regal. They was asking all kinds of questions and was pretty loud.

"I do not have time for you weak beings." Feral said as a wave of energy emitted out of his body. Pushing anyone around him away. With that, he quickly ran into the forest.

* * *

Only a few minutes did Lloyd and his group make it Heimdall. They all had look of shock in their faces as they saw injured children being picked up from the group. Some of the children having worse injuries than others.

"Oh goodness.." Colette placed her hands onto her mouth, trying to hold back from crying.

"Emil, Marta, Tenebrae, Coffee, Raine, Genis, and Mithos, stay here and help the villagers. The rest of us will go after Regal. Colette, be our guide." Kratos said as he and Yuan ran into the forest.

With a quick goodbye, half of the group went into the forest with Kratos and Yuan.

* * *

"Here it is." Feral said as he was looking at the dark ax named Diablos.

The ax floated above the ground. The weapon was red with moving darkness aura on the surface. The head of the ax was crescent curved and housed a black spinning orb. The butt of the ax had a pointed dagger sticking out.

Feral then heard Colette and the others closing in to the location. With time running out, Feral placed the hypnotized Presea in front of ax. "Close your eyes, grab the ax, and listen to the voices."

The male coughed and held his chest. He was starting to feel Regal fighting him from the inside. "Hm, Regal.."

Without hesitation, Presea closed her eyes first, then she attempted to grab the unholy ax, but was stopped by Yuan grabbing her hands as he landed between her and the ax.

From behind the dark being, Kratos shifted forward, attempting to grab Feral. Quickly reacting, the dark being moved to the side and sent his right knee upwards. Kratos placed his hand onto the rising knee, thus stopping it from making impact.

Sheena, hiding in the trees, saw her chance to strike. White flames quickly engulfed her left arm and just before she jumped out, a nine foot demon spider came out of nowhere from behind her and wrapped strong silk on her body.

"What the!" Sheena tried to moved off the branch but couldn't. Suddenly she was pulled back by large spider.

The rest of the group was being surrounded by a horde of smaller demon spiders. One of the spiders lunged at Kratos, causing him to move back and take his attention away from Feral.

Seizing his chance, Feral pressed his left foot deep into Kratos's stomach, pushing him back to Lloyd.

Yuan pulled out his double edge sword with one hand while the other hand kept a tight grip on Presea's hands.

"Do you believe you can hold me and the spiders back on your own?" Feral calmly asked Yuan.

The double edge sword was sparking with electricity and Yuan shifted it to the ground, but was stopped by several spiders having their silk pull on his arm.

"Urgh!" Quickly thinking, Yuan sent the electric current from the sword to the silk, causing the spiders to spasm out and be cooked.

Feral leaped forward and ram his left knee straight into Yuan's face. The force of the attack not only broke his nose, but made his grip on Presea be lost as he flew away from her.

"Yuan!" Zelos attempted to go to Yuan to aid him, but the horde of spiders positioned themselves completely around him and the group.

"Where is Sheena?" Lloyd said quietly as he pulled out his swords.

Zelos also pulled out his sword. "I bet she's having problems with these damn spiders to!"

"Hold them off till Presea is with us." Feral commanded to the army of spiders. He then turned his attention back to Presea.

Lloyd and his group was killing off the spiders, but it just seemed more spiders was coming out of the forest to join the fight, which kept them at bay.

Feral slowly kneel down behind Presea and guided her hands to the handle of the ax. With that, Presea's eyes closed.

* * *

In the village, the people who wasn't harmed stared at Mithos. They silently talked amongst themselves as they thought Mithos was evil and dead, yet he is there, healing a child.

"Should... should we trust him?" Asked one of the female villagers.

"Well if Raine and Genis are not concerned about him being here helping, we shouldn't neither I guess. But keep a close eye on him." Said another villager.

Mithos was healing a badly injured elven child. His eyes seem to study the kid before him. Noting the differences in physical looks mainly, but he also wondered about how the kid thinks.

"H...Hnn.." The kid groaned and opened his eyes slowly. The first thing he saw was Mithos's face and he froze. The horrible stories about Mithos that was spread through out the village was refreshed in the child's mind.

Mithos tilted his head to the side and attempted to reach out his hand to the kid. "You okay?"

The kid screamed and quickly ran towards his awaiting parents.

Mithos simply sighed and got up from the ground. He could hear the villagers gossip about him and his fist tighten up slowly as he walked towards another injured kid.

"Oh u-uhm... we don't need your help thanks." Said the mother of the kid. She saw that Mithos's balled up hands.

Mithos blinked once. "Ma'am, it will be a while till the others come here to heal your child, so if I ma-"

"I said we don't need your help, now go away!" The mother stood in front of her child out of fear that Mithos might harm him.

Genis heard what was going on and watched from a distance.

One of the more taller and muscular villagers walked up to Mithos and placed his hand on the blonde boy's shoulder. "I think you should just sit at the side."

A somewhat strong gust of wind swiped through out the village as Mithos tilted his head down, causing his blonde bangs to cover his eyes. He softly asked. "What is wrong with me trying to help..?"

"People don't trust you here. It will be best if you wasn't around them." Said the male villager.

Just then Genis came to the side of Mithos and place his arm over the boy's torso. "Come Mithos, lets sit over here."

Genis walked along side Mithos and until they was far enough to where others couldn't here them, he said. "Mithos, they are scared of you. They only know what you have done in the past and don't know this is a new you."

"Is my past... never going to leave people's minds?" Mithos said in a monotone voice.

Genis lightly said. "Most likely not."

"Then how can I help anyone here if no one can trust me? People will think you guys saved the world again after we get done with all of this and won't believe I was helping to." Mithos's voice got shaky.

Genis thought for a second before saying. "It's never easy for a bad people to redeem what damage he or she has done to others or the world itself. It will be a tough road, but you will not be walking that road alone."

"That is right." Raine came up behind Mithos and placed both of her hands onto his shoulders. "Do as much good as you can and some people will see you are sorry for what you have done. You simply being here, helping and healing, is showing some people now you're not who was in the past. Now, please rela-"

Genis, Raine, and Mithos turned their attentions towards another group of villagers talking about disturbing recent events at the border between Sylvarant and Tethe'alla.

"No... not now. Not again.." Mithos said to himself as he heard one of the males say war was pending and there was already fights breaking out between the two continents.

Genis looked towards Raine. "Do you think we will have time to stop Abyssion and a war?"

Raine slowly looked down towards Genis and Mithos. "We will, but stopping Abyssion comes first. Remember, we have a time limit and a war will pile in comparison to what will happen if Niflheim invades the entire world."

Mithos then said. "I think I should go to where Kratos and the others are at. I think I can help more there than here."

Genis didn't want Mithos to go, but understood why he would say such a thing. "Okay. Be careful"

"Alright. Be safe." Raine said before going back to injured children.

Mithos nodded to both of them before going into the Ymir forest.

* * *

"Urgh! There's too many of them!" Lloyd shouted as he and the others was backing up to a large tree. The hundreds of demonic spiders closing in on them.

"W-What do we do? We need to get to Presea!" Zelos said as he was fighting off more of the spiders.

Yuan was fending off the spiders on his own pretty good at the other side of the field, just he couldn't get to Presea neither. "Dammit! Presea, don't listen to the voices!"

Presea's eyes soon opened when hearing Yuan out cry. She loudly gasped and flinched suddenly.

Feral sensed his hypnotism slightly breaking and his hand gripped the back of Presea's head. "Don't listen to them, my love. Let the voice wash over you like a tidal wave. They will set you free from this hell you call home."

Yuan then shouted out loud. "Guys, talk to her! Call her name! Let her know we are here for her!"

"That is right, Presea! This world is not hell! The person who controlling you isn't Regal! You are stronger than being mind controlled!" Lloyd said loudly as he pushed off a good group of spiders away.

"Yeah! You have been through worse than what this coward is doing to you! Don't abandon us! You are important to this group and the world itself!" Zelos slashed through a few more spiders in front of him.

Presea's right eye quickly went red and a tear of blood went down her cheek as she gripped her head and screamed out. The veins in her body starting to show on the surface of her skin.

This sudden reaction made Feral back off from Presea. "Hm? What is this now?"


	29. Update 3!

I have just released the first chapter of the Zootopia story. Go check it out!

Also I still fixing grammar errors on the ToS story to. And don't worry, I will be working on it as well.


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